Interlude 4 - A New View
by Wedjatqi
Summary: ALLIANCE FIC – Set immediately after the dramatic events of 'On Common Ground', Atlantis and the Alliance must now deal with the consequences, facing new threats and significant injuries, but also bright new beginnings.
1. Expectations

**Title:** Interlude 4 – A New View  
**Rating**: M  
**Warnings:** AU world, mild violence, and sexual content.  
**Disclaimers**: I earn no money from this, I write only for pleasure. I own no part of the Stargate world, only the characters that I have created that are birthed exclusively from my brain :) I also do not own any quotes used in this fic, they are used for entertainment purposes only.  
**Spoilers**: Set in established AU world and in equivalent time to early season 4. This story calls heavily on the events of the all previous fics in this saga and leads the way to the next big fic.

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**Note:** Hello all. For this latest Interlude fic, I set myself a couple of challenges:

Firstly, I wanted to set this fic over a longer time period than usual and so it will cover 40 days in 40 chapters. It will not be one day per chapter, but rather spread across various events over the time period. This is pretty much the exact opposite of what I did in the last fic, where everything happened in essentially two days. There is a lot to cover by setting this challenge for myself, but hey, why not?

Secondly, I wanted to include some new points-of-view from characters we have not heard from before, or perhaps only once before, but ultimately the fic will remain very much focused on our main favourites.

I hope you enjoy it and that everyone had a lovely summer.  
Wedjatqi x

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**DAY 1 – WAKING**

**Chapter 1 – Expectations**

Teyla fluttered open her eyes to the edges of new morning sunlight cutting through the darkness.

The air was warm and still, comforting and silent.

She blinked at her view across John's room, slowly recognising the shape of the side unit stood against the wall. Small slithers of sunlight fell across the flat surfaces of the piece of furniture, thin lines of light sliding in around the edges of John's curtains.

It was morning, but the light held the earliest shades of sunrise, telling her there was no hurry to rise from the comfortable position in which she lay.

Her mattress was on two levels, the soft Atlantis mattress under her legs and hips, and the human version under the rest of her. She lay draped over John, her cheek pressed to his lower chest and her front against his belly, her skin flush against his and her arms tucked along his sides. It was not lost on her, even in the early muzziness of thoughts at such an early hour, that she had been embracing him in her sleep, holding him tightly as his heart thumped steadily beneath her.

He had been returned to her alive and unharmed, and each beat of his heart and each rising lift of his breaths reaffirmed his continuing existence.

Her body felt heavy with the weight of yesterday's exhausting events. The battle had not been one of blades and blasters in the end, but of horrendous distress in witnessing what had happened to John.

And it had taught her one of the most significant lessons of her life. Despite her attempts to distance herself from him, when faced with nearly losing him she had felt as if her heart had tried to break apart in her chest. Holding herself away from him had gained her nothing except desperate guilt and pain in realising that he might have died believing himself unloved.

That he had been returned to her not only alive, but also whole once more, was a miracle that she would not reject or ignore. The faint belief of control that she had thought useful in distancing herself from him had not been worth denying her love for him. Instead, she now embraced the truth that he was a port of calm and love in her life. She had been so foolish to think something so pure and wonderful should be thrown away.

He drew in another breath beneath her, his chest lifting her faintly, and she closed her eyes in blissful enjoyment as his out breath lowered her back down.

She spread her fingers against his sides, stroking her fingertips gently against his warm skin, the simple sensation once again confirming his survival.

Moving slowly and gently, she tilted her head against his middle to look up along his chest to his face. His handsome features were soft, relaxed entirely in his sleep. She felt deeply honoured that he trusted her, felt safe with her to let her lie over him as he slept.

She wanted to reach up to stroke his cheek and run her fingers through the little locks of his hair that touched against his forehead, but she held back.

He needed to sleep after his difficult day and their long night.

So instead, she just watched him and felt each of his breaths move his skin against her chin and breasts.

She was so lucky that he had been returned to her.

Her loving husband from another galaxy.

Her anchor in the wild, difficult terrors of the universe.

He drew in a slightly louder breath, one of his cheeks twitching a little as if something tickled against his skin, but he let out the breath and relaxed again.

Alive and well.

She could not believe how fortunate she was, considering...

The other memories from yesterday shifted to the surface out of the morning's bliss.

Oneakka.

She closed her eyes as the memories of visiting his deathbed replayed, cutting harshly through her former delight. She felt desperately grateful for John's return, but this morning's soft silence now mixed with torturous grief at Oneakka's loss.

Tears threatened her eyelids, but she kept them tightly closed, unwilling to let the tears free to drip down to John's skin and wake him.

How many more of those she loved, respected, and cared for would she have to visit in their last moments? How many more tears would she have to shed for those cut down in their prime? Too many had fallen in her years, whether Elite, Military or civilian. Sometimes there was time to visit them with last words, like with Oneakka, but all too often had she come across people in their final dying moments, kneeling by them to offer weak comfort in terrifying last moments.

And far too often had she arrived too late, finding only remains and broken families.

Kari' withered body on the Glisi world never left her mind's eye; she had blamed herself for Kari' end, for having been in Atlantis rather on that mission with her fellow Elite. Yet, had she not been in Atlantis yesterday, had she not become John's wife, then she could not see how they would have found John in time to save him. Even though John and the Wraith had escaped up to the upper levels of their prison, without the arrival of the Honour Guard...

John would have fallen, like Oneakka.

She still could not believe it.

Out of all the Elite, she had _never_ expected to outlive Oneakka.

She had always expected him to outlast all of them, which was strange considering how often Oneakka appeared to abandon any concern for his own safety. Perhaps it was that she too had started to believe in the legendary status that had built up around him among the Recruits in the Facility. His ability to achieve near impossible feats and survive horrendous injuries before had created the imaginary belief that it would take something entirely inescapable like a planet-wide explosion to stop Oneakka; for anything else seemed inadequate against the formidable last son of Ugun.

Though with Oneakka's passing, it would mean that his entire people were now gone.

Ugun was now truly lost.

She squeezed her eyelids tightly shut, feeling the tears pushing past her control.

As was often the way with old and very dear friends, she could not recall the first time she had met Oneakka. He had just always seemed to have been in her life since she had become an Elite Recruit. They had not been in the same Recruit training year, but he had nearly always been in the training gyms and had always been a wonderful sparring partner for her. He was always challenging, pushing her to find her limits and push beyond them, and he had never once treated her any differently because she was shorter than most fellow Elite or because she was female. She could always trust Oneakka to speak plainly and more than once he had helped her see the truth of a matter that had escaped her.

Oneakka felt like family to her and visiting him on his deathbed last night had been one of the most difficult things she had ever done.

She just hoped he had been able to hear, or at least sense, her last words to him.

She opened her eyes and reached up to her face, wiping away the escaping tears before they could drip onto John's skin. As much as she wanted to be open and honest with John now, waking him with her tears would only worry him.

Something buzzed from the floor.

Had it been her electronic pad?

The buzz repeated.

Si.

He had planned to rise early to visit the Facility, to learn of Oneakka's fate.

It could be that Si had simply sent her a text link to let her know he was departing for the Facility.

Or had he now returned with the news she knew was coming?

As foolish as it was, she did not want to find the pad to know, as if that would somehow delay what had happened to Oneakka. For in this moment, in the dark with John, Oneakka still lived for her and tomorrow had not truly arrived into her warm space tucked up with her love.

But Oneakka would never agree with such 'silly' thoughts; he would be the first to reach for the pad and find out what he needed to know.

With a deep breath she slowly lifted herself up from John's front and promised herself that, from this day forward, she would try to live up to Oneakka's philosophy; that she would seek truth and honesty in all things.

Especially with John.

As she sat up, John started to stir, so she reached out and settled one hand on his chest, just below where the feeding mark had once been.

"Shhh," she whispered softly to him as she stroked her hand gently back and forth over his heart. "Sleep, John."

He shifted around slightly on the bed, but his eyes did not open. He was tired, if not from the difficult day before, but from their hours shared since in bed together. They had had much time to make up for, as John had remarked, but even in their lovemaking she had sensed something new. An openness between them that perhaps already reflected her promise to follow Oneakka's philosophy.

No more rules, no more lies.

"Sshhh," she whispered to John again as she watched her own hand moving over his toned chest and felt the gentle tickle of his chest hair between her fingers. His chest showed no indication of what he had gone through at the hand of the Wraith yesterday. To anyone looking in, he might seem the same as ever, but it felt like everything had changed.

Including Oneakka's loss.

John let out a heavier breath and finally settled back into deep sleep under her touch. His head was now turned the other way against his pillow and his eyes flittered slightly behind his lids. One of his hands was resting against her hip, so she moved carefully as she slid finally away from him, though paused to cover him with the sheets that had fallen away from them in the night. The instinct to keep him warm and comfortable surprised her considering the room was far from cool, but it was important to her that he slept well after his ordeal.

And that she not disturb his rest with her grief.

Happy that he was comfortable, she carefully she turned on the mattress so that she could peer over its edge to the dark mass of shapes that were her and John's clothes scattered on the floor. Somewhere in the mass was her pad, still in her jacket pocket, and the news she did not want to find.

It was still too dark to be able to identify any particular piece of clothing in the mass, so she lowered her bare legs out from under the sheets and touched her toes to the noticeably cooler floor. Reaching down, she ran her hands over and through the mass of fabric, and all too soon she felt the hard edge of her pad. Digging around, she found the top of the jacket's pocket and pulled the pad up and out into the darkness.

Quickly settling back up on the edge of John's bed, she drew her legs back under the sheets and considered the pad's dark screen for a beat before she triggered it awake.

The initial page confirmed a text link received from Si.

With a shaky breath she called up the message.

"_I have just returned from the Facility. Massa was on vigil when I arrived and reported that Oneakka woke up in the night. He is still critical, but is now considered stable and the scans taken last night show no indication of any brain damage from his blood loss. Once again, Oneakka defies all expectations. Colonel Carter has invited me to an early first meal with her in Atlantis' canteen. I trust Major Sheppard remains well._"

Teyla closed her eyes, tears filling them again but this time she let them roll out and down her cheeks unchecked.

"Thank you," she whispered into the darkness. Though the Elite in her denied it, it felt as if the Ancestors had heard all of their prayers for Oneakka.

She sent a quick text link back to Si, the transmission passing only between their pads, telling him that she would join them in an hour. There was no requirement to rise for a certain time today following the events of yesterday, so she would stay another hour with John. On the orders of Healer Keller and Colonel Carter, he was going to be off rotation for a week, so she wanted to enjoy the time she had with him. Even if it was just to watch him sleep.

She leant forward and set her pad back down on top of the mass of clothes on the floor, and, wiping the last tears from her cheeks, she moved back up the bed to John. Moving gently, she lifted the sheets she had just covered him with and slid under them, returning to her comfortable position lying over him. Flattening her cheek to his chest, though a little higher this time so that her ear was directly over his heart, she settled her belly to his and tucked her arms back up against his sides. He responded instantly, making soft sleepy noises as his arms surrounded her, holding her tightly to him, and his chin settled against her hair.

"Y' okay?" He murmured sleepily.

"Yes," she smiled against his skin, closing her eyes tightly. "I am now."

00000

Halling hadn't expected to sleep well.

He wasn't sure what time he had finally left the Healing Bay to head to his bed, but it had certainly been in the very early hours in the Facility. It had been Massa who had finally chased him, and Seeal, away to take over sitting at Oneakka's bedside for the rest of the night.

Against all odds, and clearly to the great surprise of the surgical Healers, Oneakka had made the choice to live and had woken up. It had only been for a few moments, but it had been enough. Halling had been able to look into his friend's eyes once more and Oneakka had even given the faintest of smiles before his eyes had closed again.

That recognition in Oneakka's smile had told Halling almost as much as the Ancestral scanner had shown the Healers afterwards – Oneakka had been able to recognise him and Seeal. The brain scan had confirmed as much, showing no obvious brain damage from Oneakka's extensive loss of blood, but any questioning of Oneakka's memory had not been possible as he had fallen into a deep sleep. But it had been a far more natural and healing sleep.

Following the scans, the Healers had wheeled Oneakka's bed back into the Healing Bay room and Halling had explained the positive results to the waiting Massa and Seeal. It had been a significant wave of relief for them all after which Massa had insisted on them retiring to bed. With Aki already settled down and asleep in the Healing Bay's infant care unit, Massa had been ready and available to take over the bedside vigil for the rest of the night. So, they had agreed a schedule for sitting with Oneakka for the following day and Halling had said goodnight to Oneakka's sleeping form and finally left the Bay.

He couldn't quite remember walking back through the Facility to his quarters, though he was certain that he had ensured Seeal had reached her quarters first. He did recall reaching his own bed, of setting an alarm for late morning, but the last he could remember was puffing up his pillow.

He'd expected the Skerti Queen to return to him in the night, slashing out through memories into his nightmares, or to have fearfully relived those horrific long moments sat on the Hive floor with Oneakka's life slipping away. However, he had instead had a deep and surprisingly restful dreamless sleep.

The alarm had woken him and, after quickly confirming that Massa had not sent a message that Oneakka had taken a downturn in the night, he had sat up in his bed and felt as if his life had been transformed.

It felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from him now that Sitayi' prediction had been averted, and with it had gone the deep burden of depression that he had been carrying for too long.

Weeks of torment and years of growing doubt in his skills and increasing injuries had been transformed into a new powerful sense of purpose.

It was almost as if, free of the curse of the prophecy, he was now set on a new path of discovering the truth of the Skerti that had so threatened his future survival.

So he had risen from his bed, washed and dressed with questions turning in his mind.

Why had there been only one Skerti on that Hive?

Why had she even been on the Hive in the first place?

Where had she come from?

Had she built the alien drive tech on the Hive or had she installed the tech into the Hive?

How had Oneakka known the truth about her to have sent Seeal to save him at the last desperate moment?

Despite the Skerti having apparently fed on at least one Wraith body on the Hive, had she been working with the Wraith or had her viciously powerful telepathic mind held control of them?

Was there more information on her and the rest of the Skerti in the Hive's databanks?

As each question arose, he recorded it in an increasingly growing list on his electronic pad. The most immediately possible answer, other than the actual recovery of the Skerti alien and the Hive ship itself, was the recording Atlantis had which stated the name of the Skerti. Halling sent a text link to Silvar, who was scheduled to lead the science team visit to the Ancestral City today, attaching his list of questions. Silvar would think of far more that would involve the drive tech, but it was a good starting point. Silvar replied almost instantly, confirming he would report to Halling the moment he returned from Atlantis.

With a requested first meal delivered to his door, Halling had hungrily wolfed down fruit, sweetgrain bread and tea as he went through and answered the long list of text link messages he had received from fellow Elite through last night, all requesting updates on Oneakka's health. Massa had already sent out an update on the Elite's text link broadcast system, letting all of their fellow warriors know that Oneakka was now stable. As Oneakka's designated 'next of warrior kin', Halling had considerable powers to control who could visit Oneakka, able to restrict the numbers and frequency of visitors, as Oneakka was far from well and an infection or his weakened system could still cause a deterioration in his health. Most fellow Elite knew that for the next few days it would be best to keep their distance, but those closest to Oneakka could visit in small numbers or ask to be included in Halling's vigil rota so that Oneakka was never left alone.

He sent out a broadcast to his fellow warriors letting them know to contact him to organise visiting Oneakka, and he also shared his list of questions about the Skerti and requested that he take Lead of the Skerti research.

As he ate the last of his fruit, numerous responses were already arriving, all agreeing to him taking Lead on the Skerti matter. With enough agreement reached, he was now officially in Lead and so he set about establishing a section in the Elite Research Database on the Skerti. He saved his list of questions into the database and all of the research that he and Oneakka had gathered following Sitayi' prediction.

Regular reports were fast coming in from the Fleet on the salvaging work on the Hive and the alien drive, but they had also confirmed the successful destruction of the identified Wraith Cruisers that had seemingly been assisting the Hive by their threatening runs on the Alliance border to divert the Fleet's attention. With their destruction, it meant that, for the first time in many months, all borders of the Alliance were currently unchallenged and fixed. It was not a quiet to be trusted, but it would perhaps give time to gather and consolidate.

He was still adding ideas into the lists via his pad as he left his quarters and started back to the Surgical Healing Bay. He had scheduled himself to sit with Oneakka until mid afternoon, at which point Seeal would take over, so he had plenty of time to think about how to approach the research and how to use the personnel available to him for the work.

Turning down the corridor towards the Surgical Healing Bay's entrance, he added a few last questions into his list before finally setting the pad to sleep and tucking it under his arm as he entered the Bay.

As he made his way through the side corridors towards Oneakka's room, he was aware that he was tensing up slightly. Massa would have contacted him if Oneakka had started deteriorating, but if it was only just happening...

The open doorway into Oneakka's room just ahead, he strained his hearing, but there was nothing but the steady quiet bleeps of stable readings and no worried medical voices. The long window set by the doorway revealed Massa sat calmly on the far side of Oneakka's bed, little Aki balanced on his knees.

Massa looked up with a smile as Halling entered. "You're awake," Massa teased. Clearly the night and morning had progressed well in here.

"Yes," Halling replied unnecessarily as he smiled at his friend and little Aki looked round with a dribble-coated grin.

"You could have slept longer, I'm off rotation today," Massa explained as Halling headed around the end of Oneakka's bed.

Halling ran his eyes over the monitors set around and behind Oneakka's shaved head, pleased to see that they all looked stable. Some were still low, but not dangerously so.

"How is he?" Halling asked as he reached Massa's side. There was an empty chair beside him, so Halling settled down onto it, setting his pad on the floor by his boot.

"His blood pressure dropped a little, so they put him on a fluid drip and it's picked back up," Massa explained as he gentled bounced the gurgling Aki.

Halling nodded having spied the fresh fluid line attached to Oneakka's right arm. "Has he woken up again?" He checked hopefully.

"Briefly when they moved him a little on the bed," Massa replied as Halling reached out to catch one of Aki' little hands. Aki gripped Halling's fingers with a bright grin.

"There was even a complaining frown," Massa reported.

If Oneakka was already complaining, even if only via a frown, it had to be a good sign.

"They've started him on the first stage of his medication plan, so he's pretty sedated," Massa added.

Halling nodded as he gently pulled his fingers free from Aki' surprisingly strong grip.

"Meiyo is on rotation this morning and has already visited," Massa added. "She promised to come in and brief you once she's finished her morning assessments."

Halling nodded, pleased to hear that the Healer was here to oversee Oneakka's care. Meiyo had been a Healer in the Facility since Halling had been a Recruit himself, and she was now one of the Lead Personal Healers for active Elite staff. But more importantly, she was Oneakka's designated primary Healer and had seen Oneakka through all his recoveries since his days as a Recruit. Oneakka had great respect for the female Healer and she was one of only a few people outside of Elite ranks that Oneakka listened to...mostly.

"Good," Halling nodded.

"Did you see the last report out from the Arkinian system?" Massa looked round as he started bouncing Aki on his knees again.

"That they're severing the drive tech out of the Hive?" Halling checked, in case something else had come in while he had been on his way here.

Massa nodded. "The Fleet are moving in a retrofitted space dock to house it once they cut it free. Hopefully they'll find a way to study it without the radiation being a problem."

Halling nodded as he reached down for his pad, tapping it awake again to check on the latest report on the space dock. He had had several more text links. "Nalla has messaged me from the Sythus," he reported to Massa. "Silvar has requested that Lead Engineer Ru join the initial research team once the drive is in the space dock."

"How are the Sythus repairs?" Massa asked as he bounced Aki, using his hands to lift the babe up with each bounce so that Aki was going higher into the air each time. Aki giggled happily.

"Nalla says the main structural work is almost complete and they can spare Ru in a few days time," Halling read out from the text link and tapped in a quick reply to her. "She's planning to visit Oneakka later today."

"Si was here about an hour ago," Massa reported. "And you just missed Pampata by minutes."

Halling looked round from his pad. "Pampata was here?" He had not seen her in some time, though had kept up-to-date on her life through Oneakka. "Is she well?"

Massa nodded as he settled Aki back onto his lap and used a soft cloth to wipe dribble from Aki' chin. "Yes, though she was upset at seeing Oneakka like this," he added.

Halling nodded. Pampata and Oneakka had been close, still were, though they were no longer lovers.

Halling had to wonder at the timing of that now.

He shifted his gaze back to Oneakka's still features. The gash running back over Oneakka's scalp looked more swollen this morning, his body working to heal around the stitches the Healers had used to pull the wound closed. It would no doubt be another scar for Oneakka to wear with pride.

"It was probably a good thing Seeal wasn't here at the time," Massa looked up from Aki with a pointed smile.

Halling met Massa's dark eyes and let out a breath. He had not had much time to dwell on that particular element of yesterday's dramatic events, but the reality was clear to him now that Massa had seen what Halling had missed.

There was a strong affection between Oneakka and Seeal.

Oneakka had only recently shared that he and Pampata were no longer casual lovers and it could have been that Oneakka had just forgotten until recently to share such a gossip ready piece of information, but Halling had to wonder if the timing was significant now that Seeal was living and working in the Facility.

Halling certainly felt his own new appreciation for Seeal after what had happened yesterday. She had not only helped save his life from the Skerti, but she had also stayed with him through the long torturous hours at Oneakka's apparent deathbed. Halling would never forget the shared grief that he and Seeal had experienced together. Never forget how she had helped him talk to Oneakka through the long night, working together to convince Oneakka to live.

Yet, his own new appreciation for Seeal brought with it unease for her.

"You agree with me now then?" Massa smiled as he returned his attention to drying Aki' chin.

"Yes," Halling agreed, "not that I'm agreeing to the term 'smitten'," he clarified in regards to Massa's former description of Oneakka's affection for Seeal.

Massa rolled his eyes at that caveat, but his attention was focused on wiping away the seeming unending supply of dribble pouring out of Aki' mouth. Aki tried to pull his head away, frowning now in place of his former smiles. Halling noticed that Aki' cheeks had round patches of red flushed skin, perhaps telling of baby teeth pushing through sooner than expected. Massa had started weaning Aki a little earlier than normal since the babe had developed an insatiable appetite. However, it was possible that, like his biological mother Iketani, Aki might be developing faster than a normal babe. If so, it meant that Massa's nights were going to become even more broken in the days ahead.

Halling's eyes slid away from Aki to Oneakka. Oneakka had been the same, a child growing with remarkable speed and strength with above normal hand-eye coordination, which was what had drawn the interest of an Elite warrior visiting Ugun. Oneakka had told Halling how he had been an unusually small babe at the start of his life, but had quickly caught up and then surpassed all the other children in his home village on Ugun. It seemed that Oneakka had lived all of his life in the same way: with determination, without compromise, and at full speed. Though the days of recovery ahead would be challenging for Oneakka, Halling knew that his friend could also heal very quickly.

However, it was from emotional wounds that Oneakka struggled to recover. Though from the outside Oneakka appeared unbroken and uncaring to most, Halling and those closest to Oneakka, knew that emotional wounds cut him deeply, most likely because they echoed the old pain of losing his people. It was perhaps because of that emotional sensitivity that Oneakka had bred a hard exterior, against which many women had become unintentional emotional victims. The only woman to have survived the emotional damage Oneakka could cause from his seeming indifference was Pampata, and Halling suspected that was mostly because Pampata had herself preferred a very casual relationship over anything deeper.

Seeal's tears and determination not to leave Oneakka's side yesterday had been anything but casual.

As such, Halling foresaw a rough road ahead for Seeal. He'd seen other fine and apparently strong women attempt to win Oneakka's heart before, but none had been able to win that battle. Half of the time, Oneakka hadn't even seemed to notice their attempt, and when he had noticed any affair had been very short lived. As much as Oneakka had left a trail of dead Wraith in his life, so had he also left a trail of heartbreak.

As amused as Massa might find the current situation for Oneakka in regards to Seeal, the reality of what would come next was far from amusing.

Halling shifted his gaze back to Massa. "We have seen how this type of situation plays out with Oneakka," he reminded Massa. "He won't change."

Massa frowned. "Seeal is different."

Halling shook his head reluctantly, hoping Massa might be right, but experience told him otherwise. "You are always the romantic at heart, my friend, but this is _Oneakka_. We know what he is like and there's no reason to believe that this will be any different than before."

Massa glanced away to Oneakka as he shifted Aki up into his arms, the babe frowning unhappily as new dribble flowed over his lower lip.

"We'll see," Massa decided, but there was a touch of something new in his voice. It sounded a little like doubt and Halling wished he hadn't had to bring Massa's hopes crashing down.

Halling considered Oneakka's still features once again, reaching out and touching his hand to his friend's arm. As much as he too would wish for a day when Oneakka might find something that made him truly happy, the fact of experience and knowing his friend so well told him otherwise.

The problem now was that Halling felt concerned for Seeal.

"I feel I should warn her," Halling shared quietly to Massa. He wasn't sure that Seeal would welcome such advice, and might even take offence, but he felt he owed her the warning.

Massa shifted in his seat, Aki grizzling now despite Massa's rocking embrace. "I don't think Seeal needs to be warned about how people can hurt each other, Halling."

That was true enough, considering that Seeal had faced considerable hardship from even her own family and people, those who should have cared for her, loved her, the most. He just didn't want her to have to go through that kind of rejection again, for though Oneakka would clearly not wish her ill, in his mind pushing her away would be logical.

For Oneakka saw no logic in love, only pain and loss.

00000  
TBC


	2. One Crazy Night

**DAY 1 – WAKING**

**Chapter 2 – One Crazy Night**

The dream clearly didn't make sense. He was aware enough of that fact because the view of the Elite ship Sythus parked on the thick ice of Antarctica seemed odd to him. As did the T-Rex stomping around with Ketra by its side, but it was the weird English tea-party with Teyla's family, the IOA, and Todd playing the role of the Mad Hatter that really made the point of the weirdness for John.

Sat midway down one side of the table at the crazy-ass tea-party, Teyla sat beside him and the cold from the ice sheet creeping up his legs, John watched as Teyla's dad poured tea into Todd's overly large teacup while trying to make a point about diplomacy with the Queen of Hearts.

Todd politely thanked Torren for the tea and sat back in his big chair, adjusting his massive bright Mad Hatter's top hat as he did. Torren then, dressed in the same red and gold outfit he'd worn when he'd officiated the Political Marriage, smiled across the table and offered John more tea.

John glanced down at the delicate china teacup balanced his hand, only to find that it held some sort of bright green sludge that looked like it was right of a Ghostbusters movie. He clearly didn't want any more of the slime tea. He shook his head politely to Torren, so Torren turned to the white rabbit sat on his right and offered the teapot. Rodney's voice replied out of the bespeckled rabbit's mouth, telling Torren that he only drank coffee and that he had to leave soon as he had an assignment to complete otherwise it would be late.

As the T-Rex bellowed loudly from somewhere in the distance, John frowned round at Teyla. She was nodding along with White Rabbit Rodney, smiling beautifully. Sensing his attention, she looked round, sunlight glowing around her gorgeous face.

"...I have to go soon, John," she told him.

"Go?" He asked her. If she was getting to leave this weird party, he was going too.

"John?"

The dream disappeared instantly and a giant snout filled John's view. Ketra's tongue pressed flat against his face and shockingly sweet breath flooded up his nose. A loud bubbling dragon noise was just discernible over the wet lick, as was Teyla's delicate laughter.

"Ketra," Teyla's voice drew closer and Ketra's giant tongue and snout fortunately moved abruptly away.

John wiped the dragon saliva off his face, uncertain for a few seconds if he was still at the crazy tea-party.

"I am sorry, John," Teyla's voice laughed again from behind his hands. "She is clearly pleased to see you this morning."

Still smelling the sickly sweet dragon breath, John lowered his hands to blink blearily round at his quarters. He felt super groggy and still a bit weirded out from the dream.

"I'd hate to see what she'd do to me if she was mad," he muttered as he spotted Ketra wandering away, her interest switched to doing that nose-to-the-floor snuffing routine around his quarters.

Something crossed in front of his still groggy view and he blinked up to finally see Teyla moving towards him. She was fully dressed and looked like she ready to leave.

"What'd I miss?" He checked as she sat down on the edge of the bed beside him, her nice round hip against his side, all up close and personal. Okay, she wasn't going too soon then. He reached for her, sliding one hand around her lower back and the other over her lap, and she didn't tense or pull back. Every memory from last night flowed into his body, all warm and intimate. God, he'd missed her.

She smiled down at him, her hand landing on his bare chest, her fingers teasing as she leant down over him. He lifted his chin to meet her good morning kiss, his heart jumping at the soft touch of her lips. Last night had been so good, like they'd packed in all those many missed days together into one night. Though it probably explained the hangover style tiredness he was feeling, he had been more than happy to sacrifice sleep to be with her again.

Her lips pulled from his all too quickly now though, and he made a sad noise of complaint as she sat up from him, but she was smiling that gorgeous smile of hers again and one of her hands was sliding through his hair.

"Did you sleep well, John?" She asked.

"Had no time for sleep," he reminded her and she chuckled, her teeth showing between her flushed lips.

He ran his hand up her back, her fully clothed back.

"Where you going?" He asked, only then another memory from last night hit him. "You heard an update on Oneakka?" Was she leaving to go back to the Elite Training Facility again?

She smiled instantly though, her hand dropping from his hair back down to his chest. "He has stabilised. He is still in a critical condition, but the signs are good." She was smiling, but he could still see the signs of worry around her eyes, the lingering sadness he remembered so vividly from last night.

"I'm really glad he's okay," he smiled up at her, rubbing his hand across her back for comfort now rather than seduction. "You off to visit him again?" He checked.

"Later," she nodded, her hand on his chest sliding down a bit. He was acutely aware that, though partly covered in a sheet, he was entirely naked and she was fully dressed. She even had her Elite stunner on her far hip.

"I am due to meet with Si and Colonel Carter," she added by way of explanation for the regretful layer of clothing. "I am glad you woke up before I left though," she smiled again.

She was smiling a lot this morning. It was great, though he was pretty sure he was inanely grinning up at her too.

She clearly didn't regret anything from last night.

He wondered if he should just clarify that, make sure that they were back together. Though maybe she'd covered that when she'd said she wanted no more barriers between them, no more rules... And they'd certainly gone about breaking down any barriers last night. He could still feel her mouth on him...

He cleared his throat – now was not the time, she was off to meet with the Colonel. He should get up and get dressed to go with her.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asked him though, her hand shifting over his chest.

"I'm _good_," he replied with feeling.

Her teeth reappeared between her grin. "I meant after your ordeal yesterday," she explained.

"I'm fine," he assured her quickly. "Though," he reconsidered, "I'd probably be even better if you stayed and took care of me," he suggested running his left hand over her lap, sliding his palm up one of her thighs, across and then down the other.

"I am sure that you would," she agreed, "but I am due to meet them now."

"So I'll come with you," he adapted his plan quickly. If she couldn't be here, he'd go with her.

Except her hand pressed down against his chest. "No, you are to remain here." He raised his eyebrows up at her command and the obvious sparkle in her eyes as she gave it. "You are off rotation for the next Atlantis week and have been ordered to rest. Colonel Carter made that very clear yesterday."

He'd forgotten about that. He was fine though and didn't need any time off to 'recover' – there was nothing to recover from. Todd had, bizarrely and unexpectedly, given back everything he'd taken and John felt fine. He was surprised actually that he hadn't relived any of that in a nightmare or something, because up until late last night with Teyla, yesterday had pretty much felt like a living nightmare. Instead he'd had a weird Alice in Wonderland dream.

"I'm fine," he insisted to Teyla as he slid his hand over her lap again.

"Si and I are here to work and we will only talk..." she frowned delicately, "what is the phrase you use about working?"

"Talk shop," he supplied. He'd gotten his right hand under the back of her form-fitting shirt and had found lovely Teyla skin underneath.

"We are only going to talk shop," she smiled as he followed the soft skin of her lower back down under the waistband of her pants. "So you are to stay here and _sleep_," she repeated her order.

All day? That was going to get boring real fast. She was in the city and he was basically cut out of all the interesting Alliance talk? Though Colonel Carter had insisted on the sick leave thing, and she was known to enforce people having time off, which was seriously ironic considering the long days the Colonel worked herself.

"How long you gonna be talkin' shop?" He checked. Maybe he could meet her for lunch or something.

He'd managed to squeeze his hand right down into the back of her pants now, the swell of her butt cheek nicely filling his palm. He'd missed this – being able to touch her, hold her, seeing the way she did that long slow blink and pulled her lower lip in between her teeth when she was tempted. He wondered how much it would take to persuade her to stay.

"I do not know," she answered and for a second he'd forgotten his original question, "most of the morning presumably, and then the team from the Facility will be arriving to look at the recording you found regarding the Skerti."

Wow, how had he forgotten about that? "When are they getting here?" He checked.

Teyla pulled a face at him though. "That is no concern of yours; for you are off rotation, remember?"

"I'm fine," he insisted again and started to argue the point that he had been the one to find the random broken bit of Ancient tech that had turned out to be a black box recording, but Teyla started leaning down over him again.

He fixed his attention on her approaching lips and met her kiss more than willingly. It was a real sexy kiss too, suggesting all kinds of things to do that didn't involve new enemies or black box recordings. But then she was moving away, their lips parting slowly as she pulled back from him.

"That's not playing fair," he told her.

She made a low sexy chuckle as she started standing up from the bed, forcing him to pull his hands from her pants and the warm cradle of her lap. As she stood up her hand was suddenly in his, though he couldn't tell if he'd reached for her or she'd taken his hand. He didn't care either way as he sat up on the bed and rubbed his thumb across the soft back of her hand.

She smiled down at him, her fingers tight around his, but then she made a show of schooling her expression into something more serious. "You are to _sleep_ and spend the remainder of the day _resting_," she ordered him but her smile still hovered around the words. "Is that understood, _Husband_?"

"O-kay," he agreed, trying to appear unhappy, but he couldn't help but feel a real visceral reaction to her calling him 'husband'.

She leaned down to him again and he met her lips, but this kiss was far more sedate and clearly supposed to be quick, so he slid his free hand around her cheek and deepened the kiss. Her tongue tangled with his instantly again, bringing back so many good memories from last night.

She pulled her mouth from his first and he let his hand drift down from her face as she stood up straight again, but she looked nice and flushed.

"Rest," she ordered again.

"Yes, Dear," he replied.

She pulled her hand from his and he let go with a reluctant frown. He'd kind of hoped for a morning wrapped up in bed with her – clearly it would be the best way for him to 'rest' as ordered. But, she and Si were actually here to work and there was probably a ton of political clean up after Kolya's mess and the new big bad alien out there.

"Besides," she said as she moved away towards the open adjoining door into her side of the shared quarters, "it is important that you save your strength for tonight," she added seductively.

O-Kay!

"I'll get right on that," he promised instantly.

She smiled only to abruptly look down at the floor, having almost tripped over Ketra because she hadn't been looking at where she was going.

More than a little pleased that he'd almost caused his usually surefooted Elite wife to trip over, he made sure not to tease her – he'd save that for later.

"If you want," he offered instead, "Ketra can spend the day with me." It would be nice to have some company for the day and it would probably help Teyla out. Save her from tripping over again.

"It would be very helpful if you don't mind," she considered.

"Sure," he smiled. "I just take her for a couple of walks and feed her, right? Easy."

"If you are certain," Teyla smiled.

"We'll be fine," John reassured her, pleased she liked the plan. "Ketra and I have loads of fun." He could take Ketra for a nice long walk around the piers, maybe go visit Rodney's lab and freak him out with the dragon. Though, Rodney had been suspended for a week, so he'd probably be looking for some company too.

"Thank you, John," Teyla added, her cheeks still flushed and her eyes all nice and dark.

He grinned back. "Anything for you."

He felt like an inane teenager in love, but he just didn't care.

000000

It took her alarm three repeated rounds until Seeal finally turned it off and dragged her body up off the mattress.

She felt awful.

Moving carefully, she swung her legs over the side of her narrow bed, set one elbow on one knee and rested her aching forehead into her hand.

Her head throbbed with the dehydrated ache that was all too familiar. It had been a long time since she'd last cried her eyes out, but the resulting dull head and emotional exhaustion was horribly recognisable.

It had been years, decades, since she'd felt like this, but when she'd been young it had been a very familiar feeling. Days of crying up in a Glisi tree by herself, with just the ravens and the little scampering nut-gathering tree quills as company. They'd gotten so used to her hiding out up in the tree canopy, that they'd stopped being afraid of her and just carried on their animal lives around her. Even the tree quills had had better lives than she had on the Glisi planet.

It seemed like her entire childhood on the Glisi world had been spent like that, though she knew that couldn't be the case because she could also remember hours of Father teaching her and Ulfur all the basics of being a Glisi, how to disassemble and move the family tent each time the camp moved on, how to dress against the cold, how to hunt, how to read the stability of snow banks and iced-over water. But her overriding memories of those seven yearly cycles on the Glisi world were of being high up in the trees, watching the camp from afar, and crying until her head felt like it did this morning.

Then Father had been murdered and she and Ulfur had been run off-world, alone and terrified on an alien planet. She'd cried for days then, afraid, lost and feeling the weight of her curse that had killed Father. The only comfort in her tears then had been that Ulfur had been wailing and sobbing far louder than her, and then, after long days of crying, her anger had finally arrived and crushed her tears.

But last night...

It was all _Oneakka's_ fault. She'd thought, as _everyone_ had, that he was going to die. He'd been slipping away, and she'd let her guard down. Let stupid little feelings out and let it all get the best of her.

She didn't need this.

Panic felt strangely hot and shaky in her chest as she lifted her head from her hand, her gaze traitorously sliding to the dark communications screen on the opposite wall.

Was he still okay? Had Halling or Massa sent her a message telling her that he'd eventually surrendered to blood loss and being so stupid as to go fight on an irradiated Hive ship that had been crumbling apart from the inside?

Her breathing started getting shaky again.

She needed water.

She pushed up off the bed and headed for the open washroom door, heading straight through to the sink. Water rushed down into the bowl and she cupped her hands full of the cool liquid and started drinking. It instantly soothed her dry throat and within seconds the dull headache started to ease. Splashing water up over her face, she made herself breathe slowly.

She was just being stupid.

It was just tears. People cried when they thought someone was going to die.

It didn't mean anything more than that. She owed Oneakka a lot, considered him a friend. That was fine. That was enough.

She didn't want or need anything else clouding up her life.

The water was still pouring into the bowl, so she turned off the flow and reached for a towel. Pressing the dry warm towel against her face she straightened up and breathed slowly into the material. Except the damn towel smelt all Elite – clean, fresh and it felt soft and well made. On Dreamstation the towels had been thin, threadbare things that had never smelt properly clean even though she knew the laundry staff boiled the things within an inch of their lives.

She'd clearly gotten soft living here, all comfortable, eating well, and letting stupid things get to her. She just needed to remember who she was and not get all pathetic about things.

And maybe set some distance from Oneakka...except, she'd agreed to sit by his bedside today, in fact... She quickly lowered the towel and peered through faintly damp eyelashes towards the wall display by the mirror. She was due back in the Surgical Bay in less than an hour.

Could she get out of it? Would Halling think bad of her if she did? Had Oneakka woken up again and knew she was going to sit with him today?

She focused on returning the towel to its plush warmed rail and frowned round at the small but fully functional washroom. She grabbed up the perfectly formed toothbrush and added a few drops of the nice minty cleaning liquid. She couldn't get used to this life, this ease and everything being lovely.

The Elite were supposed to have been big stupid lumps who had no idea how to keep themselves alive. Self-sacrificing elitist warriors who lived in mud huts because they could only focus on how to get themselves killed as quickly as they could be trained.

They weren't supposed to be big, handsome brave men who made her cry! And especially not a male who spent every second arguing and ordering her around, before then trying to get himself killed without thinking!

She didn't need that.

She scrubbed the brush hard against her teeth.

The last thing she wanted was another male dictating her life and what she did. She wasn't going to let that happen again! Not another Ulfur, Creass, or pit fight runners. She ruled her damn life now, not him.

She wanted nothing of the soft silly place inside herself that had cried and snotted last night for everyone to see. That wasn't who she was, and she would never let a man do that to her again.

She spat loudly into the sink and shoved her toothbrush into its holder, only for it to fall out, so she tried again. The damn thing bounced into the sink! Well, it could just stay there.

She glared up at her reflection, only to see that she was dressed in his shirt. The shirt he'd 'given' her and she slept in.

She stormed quickly out of the washroom, pulling the shirt up and off her and threw it across the room to her bed. Well, okay so the bed was only a couple of feet away, but the throwing had felt good.

She needed fresh clothes. Quickly grabbing what she needed out of a drawer, she pulled on clean underwear, a dark long-sleeve top, and dark trousers to match.

Boots, she needed something on her feet, so she marched the tiny distance to the door of the concealed wardrobe, opened it and reached in.

Get dressed and ready, that was all she needed to focus on.

She stood back from the wardrobe and moved to trigger the button to close it, only to realise that she hadn't picked up her boots, but her bag instead. The bag that she had filled with everything she had owned when she'd left Lalwani and Creass and that life behind her.

She stared at the bag in her hand. All the extra clothes she'd bought recently could probably all still fit into it if she packed them up tightly.

The urge to run was so strong.

She'd followed that instinct plenty before Dream, living almost constantly on the move, with only Ulfur lumbering along behind her.

Frowning down at herself, she realised that she'd gotten dressed in clothes that she'd worn on Dream – all dark, long-sleeved and high necked. Clothes designed to let her slip into the shadows, go unseen, and left alone.

Where exactly did she think she was going to run to anyway?

She had a good job here, friends even. Where could she possibly go where she'd have things better than here? These quarters were tiny for most people, but this little space was like heaven to her. She had a good bed, good food available, and a clean washroom. Nice plush towels. She'd be stupid to just give all that up for...what? A male who had absolutely no interest in anything other than getting himself killed?

The big stupid oaf.

What the damn hell did she think she was running from anyway?

The door chimed loudly, cutting through her freaked out thoughts.

She glared at the door barely half a metre away from where she was stood in the doorway of her wardrobe, bag still in her hand.

It wasn't going to be him – he wouldn't be able to even stand let alone turn up at her door.

If he was still alive...

She glanced worriedly towards the still dark communications screen. It could be Halling or Massa at her door, here to tell her the bad news in person.

The chimes rang again.

She threw the bag back into her wardrobe and turned to the door to her quarters. If it was bad news, then she just had to face it. She'd faced plenty in her life.

The door opened to reveal a politely smiling female holding a covered tray.

"Your meal from the canteen," the woman reported as she held up the tray.

A memory stirred at the back of Seeal's mind from last night of a message on her screen offering her food delivered to her door; something about being granted post-battle days off rotation.

"Um, thank you," Seeal replied as she took the tray.

The woman smiled again and turned away, disappearing from view.

Seeal stepped back a pace into her quarters, the door sliding shut, and frowned down at the tray. She remembered now that she'd picked a favourite stew and some bread from the list last night.

Oneakka liked the stew too.

Turning sharply round, she headed to her small table and set the tray down. She had no idea why she'd chosen something like stew when she'd just woken up, though technically it was the afternoon now. She lifted the lid and a fragrant trail of steam rose up to her nose. It smelt _really_ good and her stomach growled loudly.

When had she last eaten? Maybe yesterday midday before they'd left for the Arkinian System? She dropped to her chair and spooned up some of the stew. It tasted amazing so she kept going, eating her way through the bowl in record time.

There was a covered cup of her favourite Athosian tea as well, so she sipped at the nice hot drink and picked up the large piece of sweetgrain bread.

And considered the still untouched communications screen.

He really could be gone despite the Healers' positive words last night. The possibility worried at her, but so did the urge to find out. It wouldn't change anything. Except, admittedly, the fact that she was due to go sit with Oneakka if he was still alive.

"You're being silly," she told herself sternly and headed the few feet to the screen and triggered it awake with a rough jab.

There were over thirty messages!

Drawing the chair away from the table to the screen, she opened up the list of text links, scanning for any from Halling or Massa.

There was a recent one from Halling. She opened it hurriedly, but it was just an official message giving her access to a new section of the Elite database dedicated to research on the new alien.

The Skerti.

She'd almost forgotten about the tall powerful creature she'd helped kill.

She tapped back to the main list of text links, scrolling to the first and working from there. The initial messages were the quick reports informing all Elite and staff of what had happened in the Arkinian System and that Oneakka had been gravely injured.

She was mentioned in the short reports, listed under 'active warriors'.

The next links were follow ups, providing details of the Hive being stabilised and the alien body having been retrieved and taken to a research base.

Then there were messages personally addressed to her from the early hours of this morning, from Nevaeh, Toj, and the others on the Sythus. They all said they were worried about her, hoped she was okay and were clearly eager to know what had happened. The next message was from Madesh, telling her that he'd filled in the others on the details and assured them she was okay. There was then one final one from Madesh this morning saying that he'd visited Oneakka's bedside again and once more asked if she was okay. She typed a quick reply to Madesh, assuring him she was alright and asking him to thank the others for their messages.

Turning back to the remaining messages, she was surprised to find several from her Project Team, all asking if she was okay, and the final one was from the Project Lead. He said she could have as many days off rotation as she wanted and that all the team were 'thinking of her'.

It was all starting to feel rather overwhelming again.

It made the urge to run a little stronger, but also far less likely.

It was just Oneakka that was the problem. Clearly he'd survived the night, so maybe he didn't need the whole vigil rota Halling had discussed last night. But then she'd made a commitment to be there...

Maybe she'd go and talk to Halling about taking her off the rota. They'd probably want Elite on it anyway, rather than her.

Her eyes snapped to the time on the screen. She was supposed to be there in less than a quarter of the Facility's hour.

She quickly synched her portable electronic pad to the Facility database, finally actually retrieved her boots from the wardrobe, and picked up her still mostly full cup of Athosian tea.

Heading out the door, she decided that she'd do the one vigil sitting today, but if others were in Oneakka's room when she got there then she'd just make some excuses and leave.

A few more text links arrived on her pad as she made her way through the Facility's hallways. One was an update from the Hydroponics Bay gardener who was in charge of watching over the goat. The goat remained heavily pregnant, though had apparently stopped trying to leave the Bay and was sticking close to the hut Oneakka had had constructed for her, so the gardener was predicting the young might be arriving soon. Seeal decided to go see the goat after the vigil; after all, Oneakka wasn't going to be able to visit for awhile.

The antiseptic scent of the Surgical Healing Bay hit her nose before she took the last corner to see its entrance up ahead. The smell brought back all too many uncomfortable memories from last night, and, as she entered and took a right, she glanced at the empty bench where she and Halling had waited all those long painful hours to hear how Oneakka's surgery had gone.

Decidedly not looking at the bench, she carried on down the main corridor, pausing as she tried to recall the way to Oneakka's room; she'd been a bit too distracted last night to memorise the way. The right corridor located, she found herself walking slower and more quietly, aware of the hospital atmosphere. Though she could hear the main Healing Bay's activities close by, as she had last night, these corridors held a kind of solemn quietness that reminded you that only really sick people were here.

Then, ahead, she recognised the open doorway into Oneakka's room.

The closer she got, the slower she walked, straining her hearing. There were no voices, medical or visitors, from inside, just the horribly familiar low beeps of the monitors

Suddenly it all felt very serious again, reminding her how near-death he'd been.

Moving closer, the short but wide little window stretching out from the doorway allowed her to look in, and she spied only Halling sat on the far side of Oneakka's bed. He was quiet and focused on a large computer pad balanced in one hand.

Nothing had changed then, it was just like last night, but with slightly more optimism.

She could do this.

She'd faced _far_ worse in her life.

Forcing her shoulders down and back, she headed through the door.

Halling looked up instantly and a wide smile spread across his face. "Good day, Seeal," He said softly and she smiled back.

She headed towards him, though obviously needing to go around the foot of Oneakka's bed to reach him. As she did, she switched her gaze down to Oneakka, skimming quickly over him and the monitors. Apart from a line running to Oneakka's right arm, everything looked the same.

As she reached the far side of the bed, Halling stood up from his chair. "Did you sleep?" He asked, seeming honestly concerned.

"I did sleep," she confirmed up to Halling, only to see that he was reaching for her. His warm hands cupped the outside of her arms and he smiled again. He'd been such a focus of strength and companionship for her last night.

"Did you sleep?" She checked, assessing his face as he rubbed her arms and then let go of her. He looked surprisingly okay, a little tired maybe. Her own reflection hadn't looked great in the mirror earlier, and she didn't even have a scratch on her, unlike Halling who still had the long scratches across his face from his fight with the Skerti, though they looked like they were healing.

"Surprisingly well," Halling answered. He seemed very relaxed, which told her a lot about Oneakka's condition.

She let her eyes swing briefly down to Oneakka's bed again and then to the new line attached to his far right arm. "How is he?"

"Deeply asleep. Massa said that he woke very briefly again first thing this morning, but he hasn't stirred while I've been here. His blood pressure dropped last night, but the extra fluids have improved matters. They ran another scan of his wound an hour ago and they are happy that there are no internal bleeds."

Seeal nodded along with the assessment. "His readings are the same?" She checked with another glance at the monitors that she in no way understood.

"Yes, in fact some readings are stronger. They've started him on a set medication plan that should help further."

She nodded as she lifted her tea, almost forgotten in her hand, and took a sip.

Less than a day ago she'd been sat on the other side of the bed, crying her eyes out like some sort of grieving...

"Are you sure you are happy to sit with him?" Halling asked. "If you need more rest-"

"No," she interrupted quickly, snapping her attention back up to him. "I'm fine," she insisted.

It had been the perfect opportunity to back out.

Except, being back in here, the smell, the subdued quiet, it reminded her how serious the situation was still. Oneakka was still very ill. He probably needed people around him, just in case he woke up and needed something.

She could stay on the vigil rota for a couple of days.

"I am due to meet with Edfu and the team soon to return from Atlantis," Halling continued conversationally as he reached for his electronic pad. He was going to leave now, leave her with Oneakka under her care.

"If you need anything, contact me," Halling added, his tone deep and soft, and surprisingly comforting.

"I will," she agreed.

"If you have time," Halling continued, "I'm working on putting together a presentation on the battle with the creature, would you help me with your part in it?"

She focused up at him with interest. "What do you need?"

"Initially a detailed description of what you saw when you arrived to save me, including distances, the Skerti' height, anything you noticed about the craft we were in, how often you fired your weapon and each impact's results as you saw them."

"I can do that," she agreed. It sounded like something she could easily do while she was sat in here. "I'll write it up this afternoon."

Halling smiled back. "I have asked Silvar to include you in the technical analysis they bring back from Atlantis, again if you are willing to assist."

"Of course," she replied, pleased and a little surprised that she was getting to be involved in the Skerti work. But then it was only her and Halling who had actually faced a live Skerti so far.

Halling tucked his pad under one arm, ready to leave. "I said I would join Massa for some of his shift here this evening, put some ideas together on the research, if you want to join us."

"Sure," she agreed.

"Perhaps hearing the discussions about the Skerti might help wake Oneakka up as well," Halling smiled softly down at Oneakka before he looked back to her. "I shall see you later then. Message me if you need anything," he stressed again.

"Okay," she nodded, recognising that he needed reassurance on the point for some reason. Maybe she was giving away her reluctance at being here, or maybe he just didn't want to leave Oneakka?

Halling turned to Oneakka, touching his hand to Oneakka's still, pale arm. "I will be back later, my friend," he said softly, concern flickering across his face. As calm and confident as he'd been talking to her, he was still clearly worried about Oneakka. "Seeal is here if you need anything."

"I promise I'll let you know if anything happens," she told Halling as he started moving away, albeit slowly. So, she headed to his vacated chair and, setting her tea on the side, she sat down so that he could see that she was taking over and he could feel confident that he wasn't leaving Oneakka alone.

Halling nodded and, with another smile, headed out.

Leaving her alone in the quiet bleeping of the monitors.

She let out a breath and shifted to get comfortable in the chair, the seat nice and warm from Halling having sat in it so long.

She laid her pad on her lap, but didn't activate it yet.

"Don't be stupid," she whispered to herself and finally made herself look at Oneakka's face.

He looked exactly the same as last night, though perhaps with a faint more colour to his cheeks. The wound on his shaven scalp had been covered with a bright silver paint, which was presumably something to help it heal. His features were still softened and completely relaxed, his breathing slow and steady.

He wasn't scary.

It was just Oneakka.

Completely alone with him, she let herself look at him a little longer than she'd normally allow herself.

Facing the new enemy that had had her nearly packing up her things and heading out of the Facility for good.

Maybe 'enemy' was the wrong word. 'Friend' was far more accurate, and certainly nothing more. There had been a very clear line before. It was just that she'd just let her guard down briefly, that was all. It was just Oneakka.

He was big, tough, and, yes, handsome, but it was just him. He was just a man. Sometimes a truly idiotic man who thought it was a good idea to go waltzing onto a Wraith Hive filled with deadly radiation poisoning.

Stupid brave male.

Even when lying as he was, clearly sick and vulnerable, the physical strength and presence of him was just plain unavoidable. Even when looking at him from this side, where the left side of his face was unscarred and with no tattoos, he still looked like a natural warrior. And when he was awake, he had such an unstoppable stubbornness and fast intelligent mind that she could understand why his people had thought he was a legendary warrior reborn.

He was unique and courageous, and he'd made a big impact on her life. Without trying, he'd made her see that life could be different from the marred, pure survival focused life she'd been living. He'd not told her to do anything other than to face her demons and 'fly free', and he'd been right. That he'd somehow ended up a friend from all that was still bizarre to her, but also...nice too.

"Don't go thinking this changes anything," she told him. His features didn't flicker even faintly, so he was properly asleep. Good. "They were just a few tired tears, okay?"

Because she'd just let her guard slip for one night, and the circumstances had been crazy.

"I'm here because I owe you and not because of any other silly reasons," she told him firmly.

There was obviously no reply.

"Well, good, I'm glad we agree," she sat back in her chair and lifted her pad. "Besides, I've got the moment to look forward to when I can remind you that I warned you _not_ to go onto that Hive, but you didn't listen to me."

She tapped open a new report template ready for her detailed Skerti report for Halling.

"I think that's worth staying on the vigil rota," she decided with a smile.

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TBC


	3. Teamwork

**Note:** I am posting two chapters this evening, which will complete the first day in the fic. I hope everyone is well and not too freaked out at how close Christmas is getting, or is that just me?

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**DAY 1 – WAKING**

**Chapter 3 – Teamwork **

Mind Song contemplated his view of the narrow valley below. Between dripping branches and through the damp misty air, he considered the unusual location the Wraith of this planet had decided to use as their base. Long Sleep's initial scans of the planet when he had arrived had shown barely any prey lived here, so the food source was limited, and this valley presented the most concealed location in the local area.

This base was purposefully hidden away.

He watched as two Drones appeared out of the apparent single entrance to the underground base and wandered out on a slow and cautious patrol. He was too far away to be able to tell the genetic lineage of the Drones, or be able to recognise any markings or style of clothing, but it was clear that this was a small and nervous group.

During his and Long Sleep's day's trek through the forest, rain dripping down on them near constantly, they had been able to track down these local Wraith by following sensor readings and the distant sense of the Queen's mind. They had refrained from actually touching against the mental network so far though, choosing to remain undetected until they had scouted out the local situation. The display on Long Sleep's interface had shown a scattered arrangement of active underground hibernation pods and a bright series of readings that told of a small group of Guardians watching over the base and the Queen.

It was an unusual location, though perhaps not considering the story Long Sleep had shared through their long walk to reach here. By their reckoning, he had been held captive by the prey Kolya for at least six years, and in that time the Wraith had suffered considerable defeats. Long Sleep had told of the large numbers of killed Queens and ancient Hives destroyed, of vast feeding territories lost, and even an coalition of some of the strongest Queens, including his and Long Sleep's former Queen, had not been strong enough to hold back the advance of the Armoured Herd. The few ships like Long Sleep's that had managed to escape the obliteration of the Queen's coalition had apparently been gathered up by the Hive led by the Skerti Queen. The ancient evil creature had not saved those she had drawn to her though, for instead she had led them all to further destruction.

Their kind was in grave danger, so perhaps that explained this base's hidden and quiet presence on this world.

So much had changed in so short a time. The Armoured Herd had been a considerable threat when he had been captured, but now they had become something far more dominating.

He had seen that fact from a very unique perspective, having watched and listened to Kolya and the other prey talk for all those long years. Then Sheppard had arrived with his Lantean blood and his people armed with their own weapons, and though Mind Song had managed to escape them, it was very clear how much of a threat they had also become.

Now with so many Hives destroyed and ancient Queens lost, and the Skerti seeming about to return from wherever they had been hidden for so long, it was clear to Mind Song that the old ways were not going to work anymore.

If their kin were to survive, he and Long Sleep were agreed that a new strategy was required. But, to be able to direct such a new direction, they first needed to re-establish a position of power. This collection of quiet, nervous Wraith did not present a clear direct step to that power, but, perhaps, they would still be very useful.

A faint rustle of damp leaves and wet moss squelching underfoot announced Long Sleep's return. While Mind Song had watched the base's entrance, Long Sleep had headed around one side of the cliff-top view of the valley to scan the base from another angle, and had now returned with his results.

"Four hibernation pods," Long Sleep began his quiet report as he crouched down by Mind Song's side, the interface display held up for him to see. "There are a series of interconnecting tunnels, but I believe that this outlying power signal is a growing Hive."

Ah, very interesting. If they were growing a Hive, it meant one of two things.

"There are then two central chambers," Long Sleep continued, "and I believe this one to be the Queen's Chamber."

Mind Song nodded, agreeing with his Brother's assessment.

"Her mind is not strong," Long Sleep noted with a faint sigh as he settled more comfortably. He had moved at a fast pace to make his way around and back to Mind Song's side so quickly. Mind Song considered his long lost Batch Brother with renewed admiration. It had been so long since they had been together, and Mind Song had missed his Brother's fast and intelligent mind greatly. He could not ask for a better compatriot for the work ahead.

"She is either young or injured," Mind Song relayed his theories, peering back out through the branches to the view below.

"Mmmm," Long Sleep agreed. "With the recent losses, the wait for Queens to mature is of significant importance."

"So they hide away in a valley on a barely inhabited planet, most of them in hibernation pods as they wait for the Queen to mature and the new Hive with her."

"It will mean they will be very defensive," Long Sleep considered as he lowered the interface.

Mind Song nodded. "We will need to be careful."

"What is your plan, Brother?" Long Sleep asked, his tone amused, likely knowing such a plan had already formed in Mind Song's mind.

Mind Song chuckled faintly as he looked away from the slow moving patrol below and gave his Brother his full attention. "I suggest that we ask for help."

"Help?"

"To leave here. We are survivors of the recent Armoured Herd's attack on the Queens' coalition and are simply seeking assistance to contact a new Hive that will take us in," Mind Song explained the ruse.

Long Sleep nodded with understanding. "After all, we have vitally important information for a Hive about a returned ancient enemy."

"Yes," Mind Song smiled. If they seemed uninterested in this Queen and her weak group, asking them only for access to communication equipment, he knew she wouldn't be able to resist learning more. Despite the usual prejudice against his and Long Sleep's unusual minds from their mutated batch, between them they had amassed thousands of years of experience in frontline battles and political wars, which would be an invaluable resource for a young Queen looking for power of her own. The trick was not to outwardly offer such an opportunity, rather to be a passing coincidence for her to use to her advantage.

"It might work," Long Sleep agreed. "Though, there is still the possibility that she will just have us killed," he smiled. It would hardly be the first time they had faced such a threat.

"Indeed," Mind Song chuckled as Long Sleep checked the interface readings one last time and then tucked the device away into his scuffed and slightly torn coat.

Mind Song considered his own clothes, old, worn, and smelling less than fresh despite the rain. Yes, they both certainly looked the part of survivors. In truth, that was exactly what they were; since the moment of their birthing from the membranes they had been different, considered wrong and mutated, but how well they had survived. When all of their batch, all of their first Hive and the many after, were all gone, they had survived.

And in the face of the newest threats of the Armoured Herd, Atlantis, and the Skerti, well, they would survive that too.

With an eager smile on his face, Mind Song rose to his feet alongside his Brother and together they marched out of their concealment towards their new future.

00000

"…_Atlantis. Had…abandon the…a near…containment breach..._" The Ancient shouted out of the large screen.

Sam had watched the Ancient flight recorder's footage far too many times since yesterday as she had tried to help Zelenka clean up the badly damaged recording before the Elite's science team arrived in Atlantis.

There hadn't been anything new she or Radek had been able to do in the end, as the 'black box' recorder, was just too badly damaged. That the husk of the box, broken, twisted and burnt nearly beyond recognition, had provided anything had been a near miracle in the first place, but ultimately the gaps in the recording were due to missing data and Sam couldn't put back wasn't there to reveal.

"_The experiments…. broken in and….complete devastation. …entire facility…en lost." _The recording continued, the wide-eyed determined features of the Ancient desperate to report everything he could as quickly as he could for Atlantis.

It was his last message and he clearly knew it.

Sam had seen the same expression plenty of times before in her career: the look of sacrificial acceptance that bred a very special kind of bravery.

Behind the Ancient, there was enough architecture visible for Sam to be almost certain now from her research that the recording had been made on the bridge of an Ancient ship, probably Aurora class.

"_The breach….all ships…the Skerti surprised us…we are the last. Contai…holding…now. I fear there…no time for us to reach…the Wraith have found us._"

Beside Sam, the Alliance scientist Silvar shifted his weight and let out a faint sigh. They had watched the recording through several times already since his team had arrived, and while the others worked on the actual physical 'black box', she and Silvar had focused on watching the recording itself.

"…_back to…tell my family…_" the Ancient asked only for the recording to break up, his message for his family never heard and never transmitted to them. As the recording resumed, he was looking over his shoulder and a rush of static and unidentifiable noise poured out of the speakers. The Ancient turned, looking sharply back into the camera, fear and near panic twisting his features.

"_Atlantis you must not let…Wraith and Skerti…never… …stop the Skerti..."_

Fire blazed across the image and then there was nothing but dead static.

Sam reached forward and stopped the recording.

Silvar sighed faintly again. "Too many questions and no answers," he concluded. Sam nodded as she turned back towards him.

Off to the right, Zelenka was crouched in front of the broken black box, the Elite's foremost expert on Ancestral tech, Kanoot, crouched next to him. The two men had gotten on well very quickly, Kanoot clearly the expert the Elite considered him to be. He also had the Ancient gene and was clearly used to working with Ancient systems. It made Sam wonder how much Ancient tech the Alliance had discovered over the years.

Behind Zelenka and Kanoot were two Elite technicians, experts in data retrieval who were currently in deep discussion with Elite Si as they worked on copying the black box's data into the portable computer system they'd brought with them. Sam itched to be able to have a look at it, get to look inside the Elite tech for herself, but that wasn't the point of today's visit.

Today's visit was about working with the Elite to find out everything they could about this new alien enemy called the Skerti.

"Hopefully your analysis might reveal something more," Sam suggested hopefully to Silvar.

Silvar turned his gaze from his team to her and smiled. Sam liked him. He was one of her 'kind of people', as Jack had described it. By which Sam assumed Jack meant that they were both scientists. What was clear to Sam was that, like herself, Silvar hadn't been shut away in a lab throughout his career, as he had a relaxed manner and practicality that told her that he had plenty of real life experience in the field.

"Hopefully," Silvar agreed, "but if the Ancestral City's computer does not recognise anything further from the recording, I have to doubt that we will discover much else."

Unfortunately, that echoed her own silent conclusion.

Zelenka and Kanoot both stood up from their crouch, glowing Ancient cables running out of the black box behind them. They'd made some changes to Rodney's initial patch into the box, adding a piece of Elite tech that was hoped to help salvage some further data.

Without any comment she and Silvar moved forward towards their people.

"Progress?" Sam asked.

Zelenka looked up from his tablet. "We have patched in the Elite crystal boost system-"

"Crystal boost?" Sam asked.

"We have developed a system of grown replacement crystal circuits that allow us to interface our tech with Ancestral tech more efficiently," Silvar explained as he gestured to the very innocuous looking dark box that was the Elite tech in question.

"Home grown crystals?" Sam checked. That sounded very useful.

Silvar smiled at her, clearly having heard her interest. "They do not last as long as the Ancestral ones. We tend to get burn out within twenty hours of use, depending on the work required. Have you developed something similar?" Silvar asked.

"We've mainly been using actual Ancient crystals, reprogrammed as we need them," Sam shared.

Silvar nodded. "We have managed the same, but we have a very limited supply."

"It seems that, this data recorder," Radek put in, "was originally part of a larger encasement that the Ancients – the Ancestors," he corrected with a glance up from his tablet, "installed on their ships, at least the ones listed in the database here. We are hoping that mimicking a larger and more compatible power supply and crystal system will allow some of the data to be realigned on the data crystal."

Sam nodded, but she couldn't see it working. If the black box hadn't responded to Atlantis' computers already, the very target the device was intended to reach, she couldn't see how a makeshift version could do any better.

Besides, she'd already tried her own version of the idea last night. After seeing Elite Emmagan arrive back in the City from her late visit to see her dying colleague, Sam had found herself wandering into Rodney's empty lab to find the black box. Despite the promise of Jack's warmth waiting for her in bed, she'd spent a good hour working on the footage data. Nothing she had tried had helped improve on Radek and Rodney's efforts so far, but if the Elite could find something new, she was all for it.

"The storage system has been very negatively impacted by damage," Kanoot supplied a very polite description of the mangled black box. "However once we have a complete copy of the data, it may be possible that there is some scrambled static that can be unpicked."

"We have a running connection," one of the Elite technicians reported.

"Ah wonderful," Silvar smiled. "Colonel Carter would you like to watch the computer system interacting with the 'black box'?"

Sam smiled back at him. "You read my mind, Mr Silvar."

He chuckled as they walked round to stand behind Elite Si and one technician sat in front of the Elite equipment.

"The connections are good," Kanoot announced from his place still by the black box.

"Power is steady," Zelenka added next to him.

"Sending wake up request," the Elite technician tapped a button on the Elite computer.

The rather small screen lit up with streaming data, looking much the same as Sam had seen on the Atlantis computer when it had interfaced with the black box. The Elite computer started flashing several messages on its screen.

"It is recording the data," Silvar translated the words for her, "and is now filtering and analysing the-" The screen flashed and a side box opened with some graphs.

Everyone leant further towards the small screen.

To Sam it looked like the computer had recognised a pattern in the data stream.

"Interesting," Silvar muttered.

"It's similar, not exact, but close enough," Elite Si noted.

"Something you recognise?" Sam asked.

"Only recently," Silvar replied from close to her left shoulder. "It appears that the box recorder has been exposed to radiation that is somewhat similar to the very damaging radiation we saw emitted by the Wraith Hive ship that was using possible Skerti tech to open up 'jump portals' in our space."

Sam stood up from peering at the screen, a new explanation forming. "If the black box had ended up going through one of those 'jump portals'..." she looked to Zelenka and then back to Silvar.

"It could certainly explain why the box has been so extensively damaged," Silvar concluded.

Sam nodded. It made more sense to her now. Everything she had read about the Ancients' version of black boxes in the Ancient database had suggested they had been designed to withstand significant damage, including the effects of not just re-entry, but extended time out in the vacuum of space.

"However," Elite Emmagan moved forward, joining the conversation for the first time. The Elite warrior had kept to the side during the investigation, having been quietly talking with Lieutenants Ford and Cadman. "That could mean that the 'black box' device travelled a significant distance from the location of the ship it was ejected from."

Sam nodded.

"The recording has been copied in its entirety and analysis is complete," Elite Si reported from the Elite computer. "Nothing new beyond the visual recording."

Silvar sighed heavily beside Sam. "Very strange," he muttered. "We utilise similar recording devices in our battleships and they record days' worth of readings, logs, and ship sensor analysis. However, this simply records the last few minutes of the ship's emergency visual log."

Sam nodded. "So where is the rest?"

"It may be that the Ancestral device was designed to hold different aspects of data in different crystals, and all that we have is the one holding the last visual recording," Kanoot considered.

"Possibly," Sam considered, "but our research of the Ancestral database here shows that their black boxes were essentially one data crystal held deep in a larger protective housing. Even with that outer casing and circuitry lost, this data crystal should hold more than it does. If I was designing something like that, I'd have included far more significant data in the crystal. We don't even have a location or the ship's details."

"Unless that is the point," Emmagan suggested thoughtfully as she moved up to Kanoot's side. Stood side by side, Sam suddenly saw a faint resemblance of colouring and stature between the two, which Sam realised she could now recognise as being 'Athosian'.

"What if the Ancestor's mission was highly confidential," Elite Emmagan continued, "and a location recording would have given away a vital Ancestral military base if it had been found by the Wraith. The Ancestor said that the Wraith had found them, implying they were in a hidden location, or at least attempting to avoid discovery."

"That could explain the lack of identifiable information," Kanoot agreed.

"The recording directly addresses Atlantis," Zelenka chimed in, "so presumably if it had reached the Ancients here, they would have recognised him and not needed to know location or information on the ship."

Elite Emmagan turned to Sam. "Does the Ancestral database hold any information on the Ancestor and those others we see briefly behind him? Could we identify the actual Ancestors in the recording?"

"He's not in the database," Sam supplied the extra telling piece of information.

"Really?" Emmagan asked, clearly surprised. She frowned deeply.

Sam could understand her frown. Why would the Ancients have removed one of their own from their database?

"It unfortunately leaves us with little to go on here," Silvar summarised the rather depressing conclusion.

"All information is useful, regardless of its extent," Elite Si intoned.

"Of course, Honoured Elite," Silvar nodded, but Sam could see that he was disappointed.

"If we cannot get anything further," Kanoot said, "I suggest that we cut open the device and retrieve the data crystal itself. If we can analyse the crystal directly without the damaged components of the device...?"

Silvar looked at Sam, and she looked to Zelenka for his opinion.

Radek adjusted his glasses. "It is unlikely that we will be able to find anything further anyway."

All eyes turned back to Sam to make the decision.

It was always regretful to destroy anything made by the Ancients, but the black box was just a dead husk now and the data crystal was the most important part of it.

"Do it," she ordered.

Zelenka turned to Kanoot, the two instantly falling into technical discussions on the dissection as if they had been working together for years.

"We can try to filter through some of the broken sections of the visual and audio recording, see if there is anything further hidden in those areas," one of the technicians suggested to Silvar. "See if we can gain a few more words or visual data of the Ancestor ship in the background."

Silvar nodded. "Proceed."

Sam had hoped for more, but she had suspected this disappointing outcome.

"Um, Colonel Carter," Silvar turned towards her, angling his body away from the technicians. Sam turned to face him. "My colleague, Imseti, has been corresponding with your Doctor Beckett since the Athosian Conference, and she asked that, if I had the opportunity, that I be able to pass along her regards to him personally."

Sam controlled her smile, unsurprised in the Elite scientists' interest in Carson considering his retrovirus research. There were some among the IOA who believed that the only reason the Elite had agreed to enter into a trade contract with Atlantis and Earth was so that they could get their hands on the genetic weapon. Carson was fast becoming one of Earth's top resources. Along with John.

"I am sure he would love to meet you," Sam replied. "If you bear with me," she stepped away slightly and reached up to her earpiece. "Carter to Dr Beckett."

Despite being off duty on long term sick leave, Carson had started on a light return to work, mainly working on his research papers and preparing the retrovirus project for presentation to the Elite once the trade deal was agreed. Like all in the city, he now kept his radio on, but she suspected he hadn't been contacted officially in some time.

"Dr Beckett here," the soft Scottish voice replied, clearly surprised.

"Do you have some free time, Carson?" Sam asked. "One of our guests has asked to meet you."

"I'd love to," Carson replied immediately. "I can come to you."

"We're in Dr Zelenka's lab," Sam replied. "Take your time," she added. Carson appeared to be moving around fine now following his injuries, but he still had some way to go until he was well enough for a proper return to duty. Thanks to Elite medicine, his burns were healing extraordinarily well, which was the focus of one of his research papers he was writing with Dr Keller. However, he hadn't been out of the Infirmary very much and she didn't want to push him beyond his limits right now. That said, she suspected a little trip up here would do him the world of good.

Sam closed her radio and moved back to Silvar's side. "Dr Beckett is on his way."

"I had also hoped to meet Dr McKay, though I understand that he is currently off rotation," Silvar added with clear hope in his voice.

"Yes, unfortunately he is," Sam confirmed. As much as she would like to get Rodney in here to help, Rodney was suspended without pay for the week and she had to stick with that.

Colonel Sumner was still fuming over Rodney revealing the existence of the retrovirus to the Wraith they had released. Sam had had to argue long and hard with both Sumner and the IOA about punishing Rodney. If Rodney had been military personnel under Sumner's command, then he would have been severely punished, if not court-martialled, but Sam had managed to keep some logical perspective to it all. Ultimately, Rodney's reveal might pay off in the future, and they needed Rodney. As arrogant as he could be, he really was one of the best at what he did and they couldn't afford to just fire him. Still, it was important that he try and learn a lesson from what he'd done, so she couldn't just backpedal on his punishment.

"You are more than welcome to visit again when Dr McKay is available," Sam offered. In fact, she'd rather enjoy working with Silvar further.

"I would enjoy the opportunity to see more of the Ancestral City," Silvar grinned looking up and around the room they were in with clear delight that he'd clearly been hiding until now.

Movement in the open doorway into the lab drew Sam's attention and she looked round to see Carson had already arrived, as had Elite Emmagan's dragon who was scurrying ahead of him, heading for her owner. Elite Emmagan looked surprised at the sudden arrival, as all in the room did, everyone sort of carefully edging away from the approaching dinosaur.

Had Carson been looking after the dragon?

No, the reason became very obvious as Sam spotted both John and Rodney loitering at the entrance to the lab behind Carson.

"Excuse me a moment, Mr Silvar," Sam excused herself and moved forward to meet Carson and the two stowaways behind him.

Both Rodney and John held their ground at the entrance, both looking decidedly sheepish.

"I'm sorry, Colonel," Carson supplied as she reached him, though she kept her glare on the two other men. "They were with me in the Infirmary when you called."

"We just wanted to make sure Carson made it here okay," John supplied as he moved into the lab, his gaze swinging to the left where no doubt Elite Emmagan and her dragon were watching.

"Sure you were," Sam said doubtfully.

"And then we're taking Ketra for a walk," Rodney added the clearly fabricated excuse.

"McKay, need I remind you, that you are _suspended_," Sam reminded him. "You are not allowed to be here."

"You need me here," he protested instantly.

"We're doing just fine," Sam replied, except Rodney's attention had moved past her.

"Are they cutting up the black box?!" He demanded.

"Rodney," she shifted to stand between him and his view of the work. "Go!" She pointed to the door they'd just come through.

"But-"

"_McKay_," Sam stressed, putting some anger in her voice now. "That is an _order_."

Rodney frowned, but she could see that he was going to back down. She could understand his passion for his work, but he had to learn there were consequences to his choices.

"Major Sheppard," Sam switched her attention to the other troublemaker. "Perhaps you'd like to escort McKay out to the pier with you for your supposed walk? And then see him back to his quarters, and then go to yours to _rest_."

"I'm fine," John insisted. He did in fact look very well, but considering everything he had gone through yesterday, it was important that he take time off.

Sometimes she felt more like a parent than a boss working here.

"Colonel Carter," Elite Emmagan's voice arrived from the right and Sam looked round to see the petite woman walking up to them, her pet dragon at her side. "As the work here is far more technical than I am used to, would it be acceptable for me to join Major Sheppard and Dr McKay on their walk with Ketra?"

Sam almost frowned at the very polite and helpful intervention from the Elite warrior.

"That'd be great," John immediately put in, smiling at his 'wife'. "We'd love the company."

Rodney didn't look quite as convinced, clearly having been expecting to be able to worm his way into the work on the black box.

"Thank you, Elite Emmagan," Sam smiled at her. "I am sure Dr McKay would love your company."

"But," Rodney started to argue, but Sam fixed him with her best 'Colonel' look. Rodney's face fell and John patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on, McKay," John encouraged him, suddenly happy to leave, "we'll have a nice walk, and, if you're a good boy, you'll get a biscuit when we get home."

Sam worked hard not to smile as Rodney sighed. "Okay," Rodney muttered as he turned reluctantly away and started following John, Elite Emmagan and the dragon back out of the room, but not before glancing back towards where Zelenka and Kanoot were still cutting into the black box. Sam stayed where she was watching the troublemakers leave and only once they had left and she had waited a few counts, did she turn back towards the guests.

Carson had already introduced himself to everyone and was stood in cheerful discussion with Silvar, so Sam headed to join them.

"...dissecting the alien Skerti today," Silvar was saying.

"I would love to see a copy of Imseti' report," Carson replied with clear excitement at being involved in work again. He was still wearing a plastic brace around his right upper arm and his forearm was resting in a simple sling attached to it, but he was gesturing with his right hand, which told Sam that he was clearly healing up well.

Sam glanced towards Zelenka to see that the dissection of the black box was going well, with half of it open already, the inner data crystal just about visible. She could see that it too was charred and crusty from the damage the recorder had sustained.

She found her eyes shifting back to the large screen where she had watched the Ancient in his last moments. He was an unknown name on an unknown ship. For some reason the Ancients appeared to have removed any trace of him and his ship from their own database.

Though, considering that Atlantis had essentially become a military base during the final siege, when the Ancients had finally abandoned the City to leave for Earth, it made some sense that they would remove any classified information they didn't want falling into the wrong hands. However, considering the wealth of advanced technical and engineering information that had been left behind in the Ancient database, what had the Ancients considered so classified that they had permanently deleted it?

But, more importantly, could any of it be retrieved?

00000  
On to Chapter 4...


	4. Comfort

Second installment for the evening...

00000

**DAY 1 – WAKING**

**Chapter 4 - Comfort**

By the end of the day, and despite his orders to rest, John had managed to coincidentally appear four times during Teyla's day.

The last, and kindest, had been upon her arrival back into Atlantis having visited Oneakka's bedside in the Facility. John had been waiting to the side of the large Gate Room, apparently because Ketra had been "missing her". That theory might have held water if Ketra had not been fast asleep at John's feet. He had apparently taken Ketra for a run along another pier that afternoon, though he had not been running but had been on his 'skateboard' and the workout had clearly exhausted Ketra.

But of course Teyla more than welcomed his waiting for her return and his kind concern over Oneakka's health. She had been pleased to report that Oneakka, despite being deeply asleep during her visit, had been removed from a critical status and was now classed as stable by the Healers.

The positive news relayed, John had offered to accompany her and Ketra to the Mess Hall for late meal, where they had met up with Si, Dr Beckett, and Mr Woolsey, and they had all enjoyed a pleasant meal together. The conversation had centred mainly around why the Ancestors had chosen not to record anything about the ship and Ancestors on the 'black box' recording, though there were no real conclusions to be found as yet.

With Ketra's sleepy chin resting on her lap, Teyla had enjoyed the variety of further discussions that had run into the evening hours, with Colonel Carter and the others from the IOA joining them for a late 'coffee'. Teyla was not overly keen on the drink's flavour, though John had tried to convince her to have some this evening as it was supposed to be energising. She had seen the telling sparkle in his eyes that told her that his motive was less than innocent in persuading her to try the stimulating drink again.

With the meal, drinks, and conversation all complete, they had all retired for the night, and she and John had finally been able to retreat to their quarters. There had been little resting since though.

After a shared shower and lovemaking in the washroom, they had moved to John's bed, where she now held a very pleasing position sat astride him.

His fingers were interlinked with hers, his body stretched out beneath her, and his manhood buried deep within her as she rocked her hips slowly and steady on him. His eyes were dark and intense, but his smile was soft and full of pleasure. Smiling down at him, she leaned her weight into their clasped hands and lifted herself a fraction and lowered again.

"Oh, yeah," John muttered with feeling and she grinned as she repeated the motion while he lifted his hips to meet her. Oh how she had missed this with him, this pleasurable ease and enjoyment together. And it was even more relaxing now, since they no longer had to steal what short time they had on his visits to Athos, hidden away in her quarters before they had to return to the official meetings. No, now they had all night together, and each night for the rest of the week during her stay in Atlantis. And she was more than willing to sacrifice her nights of sleep to reconnecting with John in every way possible.

John drew his fingers from hers and slid his hands around her sides, caressing down to her hips. Her hands free, she spread her palms on his wide, toned chest, and leaned her weight down onto him as she started increasing the speed of her motions. His hands gripped tightly around her hips, helping her move on him. His eyes were wide and he had stopped talking, which was always a very good sign that he was losing himself to the final stages of his pleasure. His lips were parted, his breathing fast and louder, his hands gripping a steady massage of her hips as they moved together. She increased her movements, squeezing him inside her with each rock of her hips and a flush of her own pleasure started moving up inside her, the growing, urging sensations speeding up her movements further.

He was gasping her name now, his hands massaging her breasts as she leaned further over him, pushing all of her weight down through her hands gripping his chest. Despite the growing passion, she found herself once again fixing her gaze on the top of his chest where the Wraith had fed upon him. Without meaning to, she was again looking for a hint of what had befallen him. But there was no sign of injury, he was instead strong, vital, and all hers again.

She straightened up from him, lifting her hands up to her own breasts, cupping his hands under hers as she ground down onto him. The wash of pleasure rushed up through her and she abandoned herself to it fully, throwing her head back and gripping John's hands tightly to her breasts, the rhythmic squeeze of his palms and the hard upwards thrust of him inside her throwing her further into the blissful release.

Why had she ever thought it wise to walk away from such pleasure with John?

He was groaning loud under her now, his body tight and shifting as his hands slid out from under hers, his sweeping caresses sliding down and over her belly. His fingers slid between her legs, rubbing her, arousing himself and pushing her release on further. Looking back down at him, she massaged her aching full breasts, his eyes locking with hers before sweeping down her body and up again. He was on the edge of his own release, so she started rocking on him again, squeezing him tightly inside her.

He moaned, his hands a near constant moving caress over her now as if he couldn't decide which part of her wanted to touch the most. A faint layer of sweat glistened over his skin and she reached down to his chest and belly, stroking her fingers over his moving body, glorying in the freedom to do so again. During their separation she had tried carefully not to think of remembered moments of such passion with him, but now she could once again allow her desire to run free. So, she settled her palms back on his shifting, flexing chest, and started to lift and lower herself, squeezing and releasing him, and keeping her eyes locked with his.

He did not last long.

She watched him reach his release, his eyes squeezing shut, his body becoming rigid under her and she rocked him tightly within her again. His hands were tight vice-like grips on her hips now, rocking her with his shuddering hips. She let him guide her as he needed, simply watching him, savouring every drip of pleasure with him.

With a last juddering sigh, his face and body relaxed, his head dropping to his pillow and his darkened eyes opened. Sliding herself up off him, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips before settling herself down over him. His arms surrounded her, just as they had this morning, and she pressed her flushed cheek to his chest, his fast breathing loud in her ear.

Oh how she had missed this.

She let out a long happy sigh, closed her eyes and just listened to his heartbeat as it started to slow from its fast race and settle into a steady rhythm beneath her.

After long silent moments simply breathing together, his hands began moving across her back again, long slow caressing soft strokes that ran lazily from her backside up to her neck and down again.

"Hey, no sleeping," he said, his voice sounding deep and relaxed.

She chuckled against his skin, but made no attempt to move from her very comfortable position, John's soft caresses admittedly quite soporific.

"See, this is why you need to start drinking coffee," he added.

"I would prefer ruus wine for that," she commented.

"Yeah, if you ignore the headache the next day."

"The trick is knowing how much is too much," she replied as she made herself lift her heavy head from his comforting support and settled herself on his chest, tucking her hands under her chin so she could smile at him.

He blinked rather sleepily as he looked up at her across the small distance between them, one of his hands sliding over her hair.

"How do you know how much is too much?" He asked as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear with his gentle warm fingers.

She suspected she knew what answer he was leading her towards. "Practice," she smiled down at him.

He chuckled, the vibration gently moving him under her. She grinned down at him as she reached one hand out to stroke along his jaw to his handsome chin.

"Research is always important," John replied with a returned sparkle in his eyes, but he felt very relaxed and still under her. She doubted he wished to restart their lovemaking just yet, but he had noticeably taken every available opportunity to flirt with her today. She had no complaints.

"Very much so," she flirted back as she settled her fingers on the top of his chest, though found herself once again considering the site where the Wraith's feeding mark had been.

John remained well and seemed, as predicted, to show no negative effects of the Wraith returning the life it took from him. If anything he clearly had plenty of energy, still she could not seem to so easily forget what she had witnessed him go through yesterday.

"I'm okay, Teyla," he said softly and she realised that, like last night, she had begun to silently soothe the site with her fingers as if that would somehow replace the pain he had gone through. She had not realised she had been showing her feelings so clearly, but then that had been their new agreement: for there to be no more barriers between them.

"I know," she replied, but a surprising well of emotion caught in her throat. "It is just that I almost lost you."

His hands cupped her face, his thumbs moving gently across her cheeks, wiping away the tears she hadn't been able to hold in. She closed her eyes as he repeated his touch, softly drying the saltwater from her skin.

She felt faintly embarrassed; she was an Elite warrior. Witnessing death and suffering had, unfortunately, been part of her life for a long time, and she had lost people who meant a great deal to her before. Yet, witnessing John in such pain had affected her in a way she hadn't experienced before. It was perhaps that she had felt so useless, unable to reach him, to help him, to save him from the repeated feedings. That his return to health was due to the actions of the very Wraith that had caused him such suffering felt conflicting and slightly disturbing.

"I'm okay," he repeated softly.

She fluttered her eyes open and smiled at him as best she could.

"I knew you'd find me," he told her, his voice quiet and his thumbs brushed across her cheeks again so tenderly that she had to blink away further tears.

"It was almost too late," she had to add.

"It wasn't though," he reassured her.

"If it had not been for the Wraith..." she sighed a little shakily.

"Yeah," he agreed, "life is _weird_."

She had to laugh at his understatement and his funny expression.

"You think he's going to tell his Wraith buddies how a group of Humans let him go?" John asked, clearly attempting to make a joke to lift her mood and she felt desperately grateful for it. "He probably smelt all of Human."

"He probably needed to take a bath after his release," she joined in.

"Gotta get that Human stink off somehow," John smiled as he ran the back of his fingers against her cheek and down to her chin.

"Are you saying that I stink?" She took up the distraction.

"No," he pulled his gaze from her lips. "You smell _good_," he stretched out the word.

She chuckled as she pushed herself forward the small distance it took to reach his lips with her own. His kiss was soft and slow, his hands in her hair and his body warm and alive under her.

She had never imagined a day in which she would be grateful for a Wraith, yet she could not deny the truth of that fact today.

Today she owed a Wraith for the return of her wonderful Husband.

Life was, indeed, very weird.

She smiled into John's kiss as he wrapped his arms around her and started rolling them, tucking her under him, his weight over her that glorious new discovery she had found since his return.

She doubted she would ever be able to forget the pain of witnessing what had happened to him yesterday, but she would strive to never again turn away from such a wonderful gift as John was to her.

00000

The soft press of the grass under his cheek was an old memory, the scent of the small flowers scattered across the field filling his nose where he lay. Lying on the field, his arms spread across the grass and the strong summer Ugun sun warming his back, memories danced around him.

There was occasionally the sensation of floating, drifting between places and memories, but none of them were sharp enough for him to concentrate on.

Instead, there was simply the warmth, the sense of remembered contentment, and the sense of those he loved nearby.

At times he could hear the giggle of one of his sisters and the laughing shout of a brother, but there were other voices too.

Names seemed linked to those voices as they arrived and drifted away, but he didn't worry about focusing on those details. He just breathed in the soft grass under him, somehow knowing that the summer's day would remain endless around him.

The soft breeze would always stir his hair and the field grass tickle his nose.

And, high above, a bird called. A whisperer.

She was close by, but, again, he didn't worry about where. She was nearby and that was fine.

In the further distance, he could hear the ringing clang of hammer on anvil, Father hard at work in the forge. The old smells of the smoky plumes and the sharp scent of worked metal mixed with the soft fragrance of the field.

There were other places beyond the far edge of the field, but he didn't worry about them. Places where dreams and memories were unkind, dark and old, but here, in the field, there was only peace.

He was safe.

He could simply sleep in the field under the warm sun.

So, Oneakka slept on, his whisperers close by his side.

0000  
TBC


	5. Veiled Truths

**Note:** Thank you for all the kind reviews and I'm glad 'Day 1' was well received. So to start 'Day 5' of the 40 planned, I'm posting two chapters together. Happy weekend everyone :)

00000

**DAY 5 – DRIVE**

**Chapter 5 – Veiled Truths **

The large bluish planet moved into the view outside the transport craft's porthole, its swirling atmosphere of fierce dangerous gases made the planet completely uninhabitable, but it was still breathtakingly beautiful.

Ru kept his eyes on the deadly beauty until it slid completely out of view, to be replaced by the bright sparkling starscape once again. The Arkinian System was full of such planets, varied and interesting, but empty of life and useless for an Alliance base.

Turning his attention back inside the craft, Ru considered the report on his electronic pad. He'd only received the report on the recovery work of the new alien drive this morning before he had departed the Sythus for his new temporary assignment out here to help study the new tech. The details of the drive were very preliminary and basic in the report, for it had only been yesterday that the drive had finally been safely installed in a converted space-dock ready for proper study.

He pulled up the limited images of the drive's housing, all having been taken from inside the Hive. It was clear that the Wraith had encased the alien drive in their own bone and membranous housing, so the actual device inside had been hidden. There were no images yet of the drive after it had been removed from the Wraith housing, but he should see it soon enough once the transport craft reached the space-dock. Once there, he and the twelve other scientists all in the craft with him would start the fascinating analysis of the alien tech.

Glancing up from the images, Ru considered the other members of the team around him. He knew all of them by name and reputation, and had worked with some of them before. They were all top in their fields, and the fields were varied – from Wraith tech specialists, weapons experts, Wraith biological research, quantum field physicists, and two fellow engineers.

The Elite wanted the best eyes on the project, and he felt very privileged at having been invited to join the work. His assignment was currently only limited to a week, but the timeline would vary depending on what they found out about the drive, and it was possible that his engineering expertise would not be required for long. Either way, he was going to be part of the first team to study the new tech and he felt exceptionally excited at the prospect.

Of course, he also felt a little sad to leave the Sythus, even for a short time. He'd made some good friends on the ship and would be missing out on some social excursions. Now that his new battleship engines were running perfectly healthily on both the Hastos Son and the Sythus, he hadn't been entirely surprised that the Elite were already considering reassigning him, if not permanently on this project then another would arrive soon enough. When that day came, he would miss his new friends on the Sythus, though Madesh had assured him that their friendship would continue. However, the Sythus would be flight ready within the month, so it was likely that Madesh and the rest of the 'strays' would be leaving on the next mission soon anyway. Though, at least Seeal was stationed in the Training Facility, so he could hopefully see her far more if his next assignment didn't take him too far away.

He'd thought about visiting her at the Facility, but his work on the Sythus had been very demanding before he came here, and she had assured him via text link that she was fine. Madesh had seen her regularly and had assured Ru that she was unhurt from her encounter with the new alien creature and was dedicating much of her time to helping sit vigil at Honoured Elite Oneakka's sickbed. With her absence from the social outings this last week, Ru was rather missing her company.

Loud murmuring suddenly filled the transport craft, and Ru looked up to see that everyone was craning their necks to look out of the right side portholes. Quickly looking out at the view himself, Ru almost dropped open his jaw as the rogue Hive ship slid into view.

The report had included considerable detail on the damage the Hive had sustained from the prolonged radiation produced by the alien drive. Damaged to its very cellular structure, the Hive had been falling apart from the inside out, and when the Hive's deepest power readings had finally ceased two days ago – the Hive now biologically dead – the ship had begun disintegrating at a far faster speed. The salvage and research teams had been working flat out to document everything they could within the Hive and recover anything useful, but it was clear that time was very much running out.

The dead Hive hung in space, its colour that of a dried old tree and it was visibly eroding away from all sides. Dozens of small dock craft were working on the remains, with perhaps hundreds of people in vacuum-safe suits doted around in small groups working on the ship. To Ru' eye, at least half of the Hive was already gone, with only the central sections remaining.

As the transport craft performed a slow pass by of the Hive, Ru could actually see right through some of the Hive, the ship-wide corridors open to space on both sides, and one section off Hive floor level with the craft porthole was visibly crumbling away into dust.

The transport craft started turning away from the Hive and increasing its speed, and soon enough the Military Fleet's converted space-dock came into view – the location of his new assignment for at least the next week.

As the pilot brought the craft into alignment with the space-dock, Ru drew out a thin jacket from his large bag at his feet. Research stations were always kept a little on the cool side to inhibit any possibility of biological contamination from the Hive or from any organic components of the new drive – if there were any.

He felt the faint shudder through the craft that was the ship docking and his eardrums tightened slightly as the pressure equalised with the space-dock's atmosphere. All very much used to such trips, his fellow scientists were all already rising from their seats, bags in hand, and heading for the exit. Ru took his time closing up his bag and tucking his pad under his arm before he rose from his seat and was the last to leave the craft and step onto the plain white space-dock corridor.

He'd been on many of these docks over the years, and had probably been on this very dock before. As he followed the others, he noticed that his pad had picked up a report update, so he watched as the pad downloaded the new information from the space-dock's system and displayed the latest information on the drive.

They had indeed removed the outer Wraith housing and the alien drive was fully exposed and apparently safely secured in the reinforced section of the space-dock. Good.

The person in front of Ru pulled up and Ru lifted his eyes from the report to see that they had arrived at a junction where Honoured Elite Seifer was stood waiting for them all.

"Greetings," the Elite warrior declared and the team all said their hellos back. "If you consult you computers, you'll see that the new drive has been removed from its Wraith drive housing. The drive has been sealed into tight quarantine for the rest of the day, but scans are underway and you can now view the drive."

Murmurs of excited scientists filled the corridor.

"This way," Honoured Elite Seifer stated and led them down one long corridor before turning a sharp right, pausing before an air-locked chamber.

Moving in single file, his fellow scientists all started through the airlock and into the room beyond, and, once again, Ru held back until last. He'd worked on plenty of such locations, so the setup wasn't new for him or most of the others, but a strange quiet echoed from the other side of the door as he reached it.

He stepped over the lip of the air-lock's frame and turned into the main viewing room that overlooked the docking space beyond. Normally this part of the dock sealed around a section of a Fleet ship, but today the seal was entirely enclosed and reinforced to create an accessible but fully isolated chamber.

Inside the chamber, there was a large platform filling most of the space, large robotic arms still but ready for use at its corners, and in the centre there was a tall plinth on which sat the alien drive.

Ru moved forward with the others, all unusually quiet for such experts, but Ru could understand why.

The drive was ridiculously small, perhaps only half a metre in size, and it looked like nothing Ru had seen before.

It looked rather like an egg, a metal egg with various ports along both sides, which was presumably where the Wraith had connected it up to their systems. Down the centre of the 'egg' there was a panel made up of flat sections, possibly press-able buttons, and a purple egg-shaped crystal was embedded at the top of the panel.

"It's so small," someone voiced what they were all thinking.

"It's _definitely_ not Wraith," someone else concluded. "They don't use metals like this."

"Its interfaces are organic though," someone else noted.

Ru shifted closer to the glass, angling his head to try to peer around the sides of the curved drive to see the ports and, indeed, he could see organic-looking sockets inside. They didn't have the colour of Wraith spore-growth tech, instead being white-green in colour.

"Do we know if the purple crystal has a function or is it aesthetic?" One fellow engineer asked, presumably of Honoured Elite Seifer.

"We know nothing yet," the Elite warrior replied. "_That_ is why you are all here."

"When can we access it?"

"No one is going inside the chamber," the Elite answered. "All interactions will be at distance and using the mechanical arms.

"When can we start?" The engineer asked next.

"Now," Seifer replied. "This way."

Ru kept his eyes on the drive though as the others filed out. The drive was perhaps strangely small, but then so was a Portal when you considered what it could do. Though large in diameter, the actual tech housing that made up the ring of a Portal was not all that thick, yet it could allow one to cross vast galactic distances.

"It is odd, isn't it," a familiar voice announced from Ru's left. He looked round to see Silvar approaching.

Silvar was very famous in the Alliance, and was one of the Elite's top three Lead scientists, but Ru had known him most of his life. Silvar had been a friend and colleague of Ru' Mother, the two having been part of the team who had developed the first Alliance own space-able engines together. Since Mother's death, Silvar had remained a constant presence in Ru' life, rather like an honorary uncle, and when Ru had started out on his own engineering career, Silvar had become something of a personal mentor.

Ru respected Silvar a great deal, but occasionally felt a little uncomfortable, as he was never entirely sure if he had gained his position in the highest ranks of the Elite's engineers due to his own skill or if Silvar had pulled certain strings to help him. Today felt like another perfect example of that question.

"I am no expert on alien engines, Silvar," Ru told him, skirting up against the question he had always felt too awkward to ask.

"To some in the Alliance, the latest battleship engine you created would seem 'alien'," Silvar replied as he arrived beside Ru at the massive window looking in at the drive. "You look at engines with different eyes to others, Ru, and that is just the kind of viewpoint we need to understand this."

Ru frowned into the chamber at the strange device sitting all too innocently on its large plinth.

"Here is the scan we've just taken of it," Silvar held across a small pad.

Ru took it, again feeling a little odd that he was being shown the latest data while the others had all left to prepare to work on the drive. Then he forgot his distracting thoughts as he looked down at the scan.

The scan had been able to penetrate the outer metal housing of the drive and revealed various reasonably recognisable components inside. Some rather too recognisable.

"Interesting isn't it," Silvar commented.

Ru frowned at the scan, the mixture of organics, metal components, and crystalline structures something he'd never seen together before. The organics appeared oddly limited to the ports and ran rather like the veins of Wraith tech down into the centre of the drive that was not entirely visible in the scan. However, it was the shape and distribution of the crystalline structures that truly caught his attention.

"How many cultures do we know that use such crystalline components?" Silvar asked, his 'mentor' tone old and familiar to Ru.

Ru frowned up at him from the scan. "The Ancestors _never_ used organic components in their tech," he argued.

"I agree," Silvar nodded with a faint smile. "Look at the next results," he instructed.

Ru tapped on the pad's screen to pull up the next section.

"We took a small sample of the metal housing and the organic ports when we moved the drive into the chamber," Silvar explained.

Ru frowned at the results displayed. The metal was a familiar mix of known elements and the organic components had been successfully dated. The results suggested the drive was thousands of years old, dated from the time of the Ancestors.

"Genetic testing of the organics will take another day or so," Silvar continued, "but the time period corresponds with the Ancestors."

"It doesn't look like Ancestral tech," Ru pointed out. "Yes, these deeper crystalline structures are very familiar in shape, but it could be that these aliens, the Skerti, were able to incorporate Ancestral tech into their own."

"And when have non-Ancestral or Human species been able to manipulate Ancestral tech to this degree? And without the Ancestral genetics?"

Ru frowned up at his mentor. "The Skerti don't have the Ancestral genetics, do they?" He asked.

"The Skerti alien found on the Hive did not, no," Silvar replied. "We have never seen a case of Ancestral genetics showing up anywhere other than in Humans. It is probably not even possible in the Skerti or the Wraith, not without some form of previously unseen genetic engineering. Even if they had been able to do that, that does not mean that they can suddenly use Ancestral tech to the point where they were able to design an entirely new form of technology and transportation across space."

Ru nodded.

"One wonders then, if perhaps they had _help_," Silvar added pointedly and started turning away. "Let's join the others and see if we can find out."

0000

The last few days had not been easy.

After the recent high success of the Intergalactic Conference, Torren had hoped that matters would settle back to a resemblance of normal. However, it did not look like that would happen any time soon now. Not after Kolya's successful and deceitful rise to power.

Torren had been swift in his public condemnation of Kolya's involvement in the capture and torture of John and the insult to the Athosian people, the Elite, and Atlantis. Along with submitting an official complaint to the High Council, he had immediately broken off all trade deals between Athos and the Genii, of which there had been many. A significant number of other trading partners also followed suit, ending their trading contracts with the Genii Confederation in protest and to show unity with Torren's position. He was very grateful for that political support, but, unfortunately, the Genii also had support and a small, but very loud, number of other worlds had ended their trading contacts with Athos in response.

Then the High Council, instead of supporting or acknowledging his complaint about Kolya, had called Torren's own motives into question and had publically ordered an investigation. Torren had responded that he would be more than happy to see such an investigation completed, as long as the High Council ensured that the Elite were included so that they could give testimony in the investigation. The High Council's legal representatives had been kicking up a storm since, no doubt motivated by certain very pro-Genii High Counsellors, stating that he was trying to stir up a large political disagreement because he did not like Kolya. They had also accused him of siding with Atlantis over those within the Alliance, a story that had been repeated many times on the Alliance-wide newsfeeds.

There had also been a good number of political rumours being spread that called into question whether John had ever actually been taken hostage. Such rumours and plain fictions were fast flowing through newsfeeds and across trading negotiation tables, all doing significant damage to the renewed stability Teyla's recent Political Marriage had attempted to bring to the Alliance. Many with sudden strong opinions had even started to question the Political Marriage, stating that it was not legitimate, which was of course rubbish and stank of Kolya's reach.

Torren sighed heavily as he re-read the latest trading report in his hands. A regular trading contract for tava beans had been newly agreed and sighed before Kolya's rise, but the other party were now concerned that Torren would break the agreement at any time of his choosing. He had tried to reassure the trade negotiators that the circumstances of what had happened to John and Kolya's rise to power were very unique, but it seemed that his actions had rocked everyone. Athos had always been well placed as a central trading world, with long held trading links and a previously unquestioned solid reputation within the Alliance, but it appeared that this situation had given that reputation a serious hit.

How he had become an enemy and deemed untrustworthy was confusing and frustrating. John was his new Son-by-Marriage, the victim of Kolya's manipulations, but suddenly it was Torren's actions that were being called into question rather than Kolya's.

A knock at the office door was a welcome distraction.

"Come in," Torren called out as he sat back in his chair.

The door opened and Charin's aged and wise face appeared. "Are you available for a guest?" She asked.

Torren shot up from his seat. "Not a guest, _family_," he stressed as he moved around the desk to meet her. "And you know that you are always welcome and need never ask."

As he reached her, he gently cupped her shoulders in his hands and leant his forehead against hers. She felt frailer in his hands than the last time he had seen her. She had been on a long trip away with her cousin, so perhaps she was simply tired from her journey.

"I will order us some of your favourite tea," he told her as he lifted his forehead from hers and gently assisted her to her favoured high-backed chair.

"Hakon has already put in the request," she smiled at him as she reached the chair and settled down in it with a soft sigh.

"Your trip went well?" He asked as he moved round to the other chair.

"It did, despite all the recent adventures your family, _our_ family," she corrected, "have been going through. When is Teyla due back from Atlantis?" She checked.

"Later today," he confirmed the one piece of positive news for the day. He looked forward to his family gathering again, especially as it was likely that Teyla would be off on some new mission soon enough.

"Ah, good," Charin smiled widely a she relaxed into the soft cushions of the chair.

"You will be staying with us?" Torren checked. She had permanent quarters in the Complex, but she had spent considerably more time with her cousin of late, seeking a quieter life no doubt. As she grew older, her need for assistance was growing, though Torren would obviously ensure it was available for her here, but he suspected she did not want to bother him.

"Yes, if you will have me," she smiled as movement in the doorway was Hakon carrying in the tray of tea.

"I thought I would bring the tea myself," Hakon smiled as he set the tray down on the table and Torren quickly reached in to set about serving the tea before Charin tried to do it herself.

"Aw bless you, dear Hakon," Charin reached up for Hakon's offered hand. He too was like family to both her and Torren, and Torren noticed how carefully Hakon held Charin's hand. In the gentle cradle of her hand, Torren saw Hakon's own concern for Charin's growing frailty.

"For you, dear Charin, anything," Hakon told her kindly.

"Sweet boy," Charin patted his hand with her free one. "But, I suspect it is not just tea that has brought you in here. You no doubt have something for Leader Torren."

Torren sent her filled teacup in front of her and looked up at Hakon. "Is it pleasing or distressing news, Hakon?" He asked.

Hakon gently let go of Charin's hand and winced at him.

"Distressing news it seems," Charin concluded for them.

Hakon handed over a small pad. "Ambassador Keltree has informed us that he feels our response to the Genii new Supreme Leader is over-exaggerated and Cador does not support our decision."

Torren took the small pad that held Keltree's official statement no doubt sent to Athos mere moments before the decision was made public. However, it was Hakon's use of the phrase 'our response' rather than 'your response' that gave Torren a small boost of gratitude. It seemed that, at least on Athos itself, he had considerable support for his decision against the Genii, and he had received a vast amount of supportive messages from his people.

"A disappointing, but unsurprising choice," Charin summarised Keltree's decision. "He will now look to break Cador out of the Athosian shadow and grab some new trade from the Genii."

Torren nodded as he skim read the statement. Hakon had summarised it clearly enough.

"Keltree is no doubt looking to pursue his own leadership intentions on Cador," Hakon noted.

"He had hoped to gain that political position from his son's Political Marriage with Zabetha or Teyla," Charin pointed out as she picked up her teacup, delicately balancing the base in one palm. "Now both opportunities are lost, he will see this as his chance."

Torren handed the pad back to Hakon.

"What response would you like to send?" Hakon asked.

"That we have received his official statement, nothing more," Torren replied.

Hakon nodded. "And our trade with Cador?" He checked.

"Pull out the details of our contracts for me to review," Torren sighed.

"Are we going to cancel them?" Hakon pushed.

"We might need to review them if matters worsen with Cador," Torren delayed that decision for now. If he started cancelling other trade deals it would not look good.

"Perhaps an amendment that we will not be trading any Atlantis products with them?" Charin suggested. "As I understand it, we are due our first new shipments of Atlantis goods next week?"

"Yes," Torren confirmed. "We sent our agricultural supplies and tea yesterday, and their medicines and other new goods are being sent tomorrow."

"Elkaska is no doubt overseeing it all," Charin smiled as she sipped at her tea.

"He is in his element," Torren smiled with her. His Brother-by-marriage had continued to be a most vital adviser and ambassador in all matters of trade. However, Torren could not predict how long Elkaska would be prepared to stay on Athos before his itching wandering trade feet would kick back in.

"I saw Xinda's very stern statement to the Genii," Charin reported. Rhakshar's people had at least been very forceful in their support for Torren's actions and had cut off their very vital metal ore supplies to the Genii Confederation until such time as the Genii acknowledged Kolya's involvement and provided reparations for the harm caused to Athos, the Elite, and Major Sheppard.

"Rhakshar is very unhappy," Torren told her. "I have never seen him so upset about anything. He has taken John's kidnapping very personally and his family business has already offered the ore supplies held back from the Genii to Atlantis. I believe Colonel Carter has accepted and in exchange she is trading some of the tava beans we supplied to them."

"The hope is that matters will eventually settle with time," Charin set her tea down gently. Her grip looked strong still and there was no tremor to her hands.

"I have asked Colonel Carter if John could visit us sooner than planned, so that we can invite our trading allies to meet with him for a banquet," Torren informed her.

"A good idea," Charin agreed.

"Do we have an exact date for that yet?" Hakon checked, his usual computer tablet poised ready against his forearm.

"Teyla will have some dates when she returns later today," Torren confirmed to him.

Hakon nodded, but there was the faint disapproval of an administrator who would prefer to start organising things as soon as possible. "I shall speak with her this evening," Hakon stated as he tapped something into his tablet.

"Torren?" A voice called from outside the open office door.

"Yes, I am in here, Elkaska," Torren called back.

Elkaska bustled in a second later. "Are you watching the newsfeeds?" He asked, his hair slightly dishevelled at the front, which happened when he repeatedly ran his hand through his fast growing locks.

"No," Torren confirmed the obvious as he reached out to the nearby wall where his secondary wall-screen woke up at his touch.

"Kolya is giving a live interview on the Genii newsfeed that is being broadcast Alliance-wide," Elkaska reported.

Torren didn't need to look far, for the interview appeared on the first newsfeed he found.

Kolya was sat, straight-backed, but appearing relaxed as he spoke. He wore the standard military Genii uniform, which was noticeably absent of any insignia that showed his new station, though the uniform was clearly very new.

"..._considering the attack by Cowen on Major Sheppard, it is entirely understandable that Leader Torren would react protectively_," Kolya was answering a former question. "_I am sure that once the facts are confirmed, that matters will return to normal, even improve. The stability and strength of the Alliance is of greatest importance to both myself and Leader Torren_."

Torren sighed at the screen.

"_And what of the rumours_," a female voice asked Kolya, "_that there was a wider involvement within Government of Major Sheppard's capture_?"

"_We do know that Cowen had some supporters within the Government_," Kolya replied calmly. "_I have worked hard in these first days of my leadership to weed out those responsible, but it appears that most involved had already fled the homeworld. I have arrest warrants out on them to ensure that, should they reappear, that they are brought to task for their involvement in Major Sheppard's capture_."

Torren frowned at the clear threat to Hulte, the former Genii Ambassador who had claimed asylum from Athos and was now currently in a secure location owned by the Elite themselves. Though Hulte had done a great service in providing intell on Kolya and Cowen, he had in the same strike killed any chance that he could return to the Genii homeworld any time soon. Considered under clear and dangerous threat of assassination by Kolya's orders, the Elite themselves had volunteered to protect Hulte, which was unprecedented to Torren's knowledge. It had, however, provided Torren with a reprieve, for protecting Hulte fulltime would have been very demanding and dangerous work for Athos. He had no idea where Hulte was now, but he had made his respect and gratitude clear to the Genii male before he had left with the Elite. Torren just hoped that the Elite really could keep Hulte safe from Kolya's reach.

"_There still seem to be many questions about former Supreme Leader Cowen's death_?" The interviewer asked.

Kolya nodded along with her, as if he was just as concerned as those who were raising such questions. "_I was also intent to find out the true extent of what happened to Cowen, but we are certain now that there was only one man involved, Ladon Radim. Ladon had discovered Cowen's involvement in Major Sheppard's capture and had confronted Cowen in the Palace. We believe that Cowen drew his weapon on Ladon and Ladon defended himself and in a bid to free us from the tyrant that Cowen had become. Though he was successful, Ladon was unfortunately too gravely wounded_."

"_A deep lost to us all_," the interviewer agreed.

Kolya nodded. "_Ladon and I fought together on many campaigns and I feel his loss, but I am also grateful for his legacy to us_."

"He is very charismatic," Charin considered of Kolya. "Appearing the epitome of a Genii soldier."

Torren hated to agree with her, but Kolya looked perfectly calm and steady as he spoke, appearing very much in full control and not in the least concerned about his true actions.

"_And what a legacy it is_," the interviewer chuckled. "_I do not know if the camera can see out of the windows behind us_," the angle of the image shifted to the left and a large window came into view, out though which there was a large courtyard full of celebrating Genii.

"_There have been days of celebrations here on the Genii homeworld_," the interviewer reported as faces and waving hands plastered themselves up to the glass.

Kolya could be heard chuckling and the camera swung back to him to see him waving back to his people before turning back to the camera.

"_All of us in the Confederation are grateful to Ladon_," Kolya stated. "_A new beginning has started for our people and we are immensely grateful to all those within the Alliance that are supporting us_."

Which left the silent commentary that Athos and others were not being supportive to the 'newly freed' Genii people.

Torren looked away to his tea and drank down several long gulps of the hot liquid.

"_Thank you, Supreme Leader Kolya for allowing us some of your very precious time_," the interviewer gushed.

Kolya smiled as he nodded back.

Torren turned off the screen.

"We'll see if he's still smiling once the real facts come to light," Elkaska muttered.

"It will not matter," Charin replied though. "Even if the Genii know for certain that Kolya murdered Cowen, even if they had actual footage of the event, they will do nothing. Assassination is a perfectly justifiable method of ascending to power among the Genii. If anything, they will respect Kolya more for his success."

"He's their saviour," Torren muttered as he put his teacup back down. "And we become the enemy for fighting him and appearing to take Atlantis' side over theirs."

"Yes," Charin confirmed. "It is unlikely that there is any way to oust Kolya now without causing irreparable damage to the Alliance."

"Which is what the Elite have surmised," Torren shared with them. "The only crime we could hold to Kolya is the kidnap of John, but only John saw him and they weren't in Alliance territory at the time. As Kolya has repeatedly stated in his official responses, we have no physical evidence of his involvement."

"What about Pelyrian involvement?" Elkaska asked. "They send in their mind-readers and we'll soon know the truth."

"They will not do that," Charin cut him short. "They will not do anything that will interfere in the stability of the Alliance and they have previously made clear that they will not use their abilities for such political matters."

Elkaska sighed loudly and sat back against the edge of Torren's desk. "Then he's won? He really gets away with it and we're left looking like the sensitive biased traders favouring Atlantis?"

Torren nodded. "There is also a growing amount of negative conversation about Atlantis as well, which Colonel Carter and I are working to help mitigate."

"It may be, Torren," Charin said softly, "that we have to just let this pass."

Torren scratched at the top of his head, his scalp itching for no good reason other than he was irritated with life today.

"Withholding our trade _will_ impact the Genii Confederation," Elkaska put in. "But I suspect Kolya will do what a good trader does, find new trading partners and wait for you to change your mind."

"Considering the recent Hive attacks in our space," Charin continued, "this matter will not last long in the forefront of people's minds. Cowen was not regarded highly by most in and around the High Council, so he's loss will not be seen as something for them to concern themselves about. I advise to stay the course in regards to holding back trade with the Genii and limiting Atlantis goods trade to their allies, and wait. Through our certainty and support from the Elite, we show where we stand."

"And Kolya just gets away with trying to kill Major Sheppard?" Elkaska protested.

"The Elite know the truth," Charin reminded him, "and through them, the Military Council, Division, and Enforcement. Do not doubt that scrutiny of the Genii will have been increased dramatically and that Kolya will have to tread very lightly from now onwards."

"My concerns are that he has far more reaching plans," Torren shared. "That leadership of the Confederation will not be enough for him. That he would prefer leadership of the entire Alliance itself, whether directly or through control and influence of the High Council."

"In that," Charin lifted her tea again, "I am afraid, Torren, that we have little control ourselves. We can only trust that everyone will hold to the rule of law and remember Athos' good reputation, and that the Ancestors are watching over us."

Torren nodded, but, for the first time in many long years, doubt in his fellow human beings settled in his heart.

00000  
On to Chapter 6...


	6. Quiet Concerns

**Note:** Second chapter for the evening...

00000

**DAY 5 – DRIVE**

**Chapter 6 – Quiet Concerns**

It was still morning but Halling had achieved a great deal before his time to sit with Oneakka. He'd already held two meetings and spent some time in the Generator where he was creating a holographic reconstruction of his fight with the Skerti alien. Along with his and Seeal's recollections, he was incorporating all the scans the recovery teams had taken in the Hive, as well as the latest data from the dissection and analysis of the Skerti' body. Once complete, the re-enactment would provide a valuable resource for the Elite and wider military community to study how the Skerti had behaved, how it moved, attacked, its strengths and weaknesses, and become a thorough three-dimensional report for the official records.

Working as Lead of the Skerti research, his meetings via link this morning had been with Imseti on the Mad Moon, regarding the latest on the dissection, and then with Silvar out in the Arkinian System, who had reported that the specialist team had begun their study of the Skerti drive. Halling had also visited his further team based in a Project Room within the Facility who were assigned the task of studying the different locations where the rogue Hive had appeared within Alliance space, hoping to discover and understand the subspace 'doorways' that Seeal had first suggested as the means the Hive might have used to jump such vast distances.

Everyone was working hard and hopefully a more complete picture would soon start to form. To ensure that information well conveyed, Halling had started preparations for a large conference to eventually present the research to the Military Council, High Council, Fleet Commanders, Planetary military leaders, and all Elite staff. He also hoped to invite Atlantis to attend and Silvar had been very keen that Atlantis' scientific Leads be invited. During her visit to Oneakka yesterday, Halling had discussed the matter with Teyla and she had promised to speak with Colonel Carter about the invitation.

Teyla had looked very well yesterday, her reticent mood since her wedding had lifted and her former self had returned. He still felt rather guilty about the damage he had nearly caused to their long enduring friendship in not having shared Sitayi' prophecy with her and not having been supportive about her closeness with Major Sheppard prior to the wedding. Teyla had, once again, said she had forgiven him and insisted that she understood. Still, he had promised himself to spend more time with her once she returned from her stay in Atlantis later today. That said, the few times they had sat together talking at Oneakka's bedside had already started the reconnecting process.

He had spent considerable time talking with people while sat at Oneakka's bedside these last five days, but he doubted Oneakka could hear anything said since he was so deeply asleep under the effects of his medication. Still, it was important for Halling to sit with Oneakka for at least five or six hours a day, though, on occasions like this morning, he had had to ask Seeal to cover some of his rota. So far, the three of them - him, Seeal and Massa - had managed to ensure that at least one of them was always at Oneakka's side, through the days and nights. It was a little challenging and tiring at times, but Nalla had occasionally helped out where she could around her duties on the docked Sythus, and both Teyla and Si had volunteered to join the rota once they returned from Atlantis. It was all worth it though, for each day Oneakka had slightly more colour to his, admittedly naturally pale, cheeks and his wound was healing well.

Moving through the Surgical Healing Bay, Halling recorded his 'off rotation' status on his pad and slid it under his arm as he approached the open door to Oneakka's room. As was becoming rather common when Seeal sat with Oneakka, the soft sound of music drifted out of the open door.

As he turned into the doorway, he spied Seeal sat in the usual vigil chair on the far side of Oneakka. Today she had two large computer pads in front of her, one set up on the side table beside Oneakka's head, and the other balanced on her lap against the edge of the medical bed.

"Good morning, Seeal," Halling greeted her as he entered.

She looked up from her screens with a wide smile that had also become very commonplace from her these last days, which was pleasing. "It's almost midday meal, Halling," she pointed out.

"It is still morning," he smiled back before turning his attention to Oneakka. "How is he today?"

"Still the same," Seeal reported, though she sounded a little annoyed at the summary.

Healer Meiyo was in fact very pleased with Oneakka's progress. Along with the positive ongoing healing of his wound, Oneakka's blood pressure had stabilised, his life readings were all within reasonable parameters again, and he would occasionally wake up enough to briefly open his eyes. Halling wasn't sure how much Oneakka was aware of when he did that, but it was all normal for Oneakka at this stage in his medication plan.

"That's good," Halling reassured Seeal as he moved around the bed to sit in the seat beside hers.

"Really?" Seeal asked doubtfully over the low music. "Why hasn't he woken up?"

"He usually opens his eyes when they adjust his position or wash him," Halling reminded her.

"Well, I've not seen that," she argued, appearing rather concerned about Oneakka this morning.

"He will wake up properly soon enough," Halling reassured her.

"I see his eyelids flickering a lot," she continued in her assessment as she gestured to Oneakka's face. "So he's probably dreaming."

Halling nodded as he found himself focusing in on Oneakka's eyelids, which were currently still.

"It's because of the medication they have him on," Seeal stated. "I looked up the main painkiller medication he's on and it's the most sedating one used in the Alliance."

Halling glanced round at her. She shouldn't know which precise medication Oneakka was on, since it was confidential personal medical records, but then Seeal was a very resourceful woman.

"How do you know what medication he's being given?" He asked, though he suspected he could already predict the answer, though Oneakka was not going to approve.

She paused before she answered, glancing at him with a slightly sheepish look. "I saw the name of it."

"Did you hack into his medical records?" Halling asked her directly.

"No!" She insisted immediately. "I looked over a Healer's shoulder at his pad when he assessed Oneakka this morning."

That was a far more understandable explanation and meant she continued to keep to her promise not to hack into any Elite computer system. Halling had fortunately been wrong in his theory.

With a sudden flourish, Seeal held up one of her electronic pads in front of his face. "See," she stated from behind the screen. "This is the medication he's on."

The display showed the full technical details of the healing sedative, which was obviously not a surprise to him, but clearly Seeal didn't approve of it.

"You Elite use this drug to sedate _Wraith_! No wonder he's still drugged out," she complained as she lowered the pad.

For some reason, Halling was finding her response oddly amusing and had to focus on setting his own pad down against the leg of his chair to control himself from smiling at her. Perhaps it was the fact that he couldn't recall anyone being so concerned over Oneakka being asleep before, but then he supposed it was time to explain the truth to her. He couldn't foresee Oneakka being upset about it, though, of course, it would be too late to take it back if he did. Still, if Seeal was going to stay on the vigil rota, it was probably good that she know about the medications.

"The reason he is being given such heavily sedating pain-killing medication is because that is what _he_ prefers," Halling started to explain. "At least for this stage of his recovery."

"What?" Seeal asked with a heavy frown.

"As Elite warriors, we sustain injuries frequently enough that over the years we build up a picture of which medications work the best for us, or which do not agree with us, so all Elite establish their own medication plans," Halling explained.

"Elite choose their meds rather than the actual trained Healers?" Seeal asked.

"We establish the plans with agreement with our personal Healers, and there is always the stipulation that the Healers can amend the plan if required. And the plans often change as new medications are introduced. Oneakka's plan starts with heavily sedating medication because that's what he wants for the initial stages of his recovery."

"He _wants_ to be this sedated?" Seeal pulled a disbelieving face.

"For the first initial days, yes," Halling confirmed.

"Why?" Seeal asked.

He paused for a moment, enjoying the opportunity to share his standard explanation of an injured Oneakka with somebody new. "Have you heard of the Cuddly Bears of Moor?" He asked her.

Seeal blinked with confused surprise. "No."

"They're two-legged, small fluffy creatures that live on the edge of the forests on an allied Athosian world. They're famous for their comfort with Humans, approaching people and sitting with them like pets rather than the wild animals that they are. Hundreds of people now take their families to the outskirts of the Moor forests to sit and eat picnics there every day. The Cuddly Bears come out of the forest and sit with them, let children climb over them and get to share some of the food. They're patient, sweet, and literally cuddly."

"I'm not quite seeing the link to Oneakka here," Seeal noted with bemusement.

"I'm getting there," Halling replied with a smile. "These bears are loyal and sweet...unless they are injured. Then they keep their distance and hide in the forest, which is fine until someone might get too close. If that happens, an injured Cuddly Bear of Moor becomes vicious and highly aggressive."

"Oh," Seeal uttered thoughtfully.

"Oneakka becomes very difficult and grumpy when he's injured," Halling concluded.

"How is that any different to normal?" Seeal joked, but he could tell that she understood. "So he gets himself sedated initially so he can stand being stuck in a hospital bed?"

Halling nodded. "Be warned though, the grump lasts beyond the hospital bed through all of his recovery. He hates being restricted by injury."

"Because he feels vulnerable," Seeal interpreted.

"And impatient to get back to the fight," Halling agreed.

Seeal rolled her eyes and shook her head. "And he convinces the Healers to let him do this?"

"From their point-of-view it allows some time for his body get a good start on healing before he wakes up fully and wants to start moving around too much," Halling explained further.

"He's been impaled by a Wraith Hive," Seeal gestured to Oneakka. "He can't move around."

Halling understood her reasoning, but he'd seen Oneakka through far too many injuries. "At first maybe, but you'll see. He heals quickly."

"Not from this," Seeal muttered.

"Considering how far he likely fell and that he could have fallen onto that piece of Hive in any manner of ways, the location of his injury was actually very lucky. He hasn't damaged any vital organs and he was fortunate not to have severed a major blood vessel," Halling repeated part of Meiyo's report.

Most of the internal damage had been to Oneakka's bowel, but the surgeons had been able to stitch it back together with only a relatively small section of the large organ lost. It was unlikely to impact his life at all going forward, and it was more likely going to be the extensive muscular damage that would require longer rehab. Though, Meiyo was still a little concerned about Oneakka's spine. It was possible that one side of Oneakka's lower spine had sustained some damage as the scans weren't clear due to the large amount of internal inflammation clouding the picture. Tests of Oneakka's legs suggested he still had reflex responses, but it was only once he was awake and could respond to questions could they be certain his spine was intact.

Scans of his brain were still normal, but again it would only be once he was awake that they would know if he had suffered any other symptoms, such as memory loss or confusion. The longer Oneakka was sedated the longer they had to wait to find out, but it was also useful time for his body. By sedating himself with the strongest painkillers, Oneakka was giving his body the time his mind would not allow it, and also took some of the pressure off the Healers who had to deal with Oneakka's grumpy poor patient attitude.

"The heavy sedation helps him, but the dosage is gradually reduced, so he is likely to wake up soon," Halling assured Seeal.

She frowned and considered Oneakka's sleeping face in silence.

The background music from Seeal's computer pad died away and a new piece started up. Halling frowned at the strange sounds pouring out of the speakers.

"I do not recognise this music," he asked Seeal as a male voice started singing over unusual instrumental sounds.

"It's from Earth," she explained as she finally looked away from Oneakka and lifted the pad playing the music. Halling considered the long list of music displayed on the screen.

Oneakka's gift to her, obtained from Sheppard.

Halling focused on the highlighted song name that was playing.

"What does "_Heaven is a Halfpipe_" mean?" He asked.

"I have no idea," Seeal confessed. "I've got _loads_ of questions for Sheppard the next time I see him."

Halling considered the other song names listed below. "_Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves_?" He read out one, wondering if the translation was accurate. "_It's not Unusual_. _You're so Vain_?"

"It's all really good," Seeal assured him as she tapped another song on the list entitled "_I've got you under my skin_". "Listen to this man's voice."

The new piece started up with a cheerful catchy rhythm before a deep smooth male voice started up. Halling smiled at the nice regular beat and soothing rising and lowering of the male voice. One of Seeal's knees was already bouncing in time with the music.

"How is the Skerti fight simulation going?" She asked as she scrolled down through the list of songs for him to see.

"I believe it is complete," he replied as he reached in and tapped one song entitled "_Faith"_. "If you have time, please take another look at it for me, check that it still matches your memory of what you saw," he asked as the new music started.

"I'll do it now before I go visit the goat," she agreed, though she didn't move to leave her seat yet. He didn't mind. They had done this occasionally over the last few days, hung on after a shift to talk together and discuss Oneakka and the Skerti research.

"The goat is still pregnant, I assume," he asked as he reached out and tapped another song entitled "_Respect"_. A sudden loud and engulfing piece of music started up, a strong female voice arriving, full of power and volume.

"Ridiculously so," Seeal replied. "I don't know how she can walk. She's keeping to her hut area for the first time ever, so it could be any day now."

Halling decided he'd go see the creature later, since Oneakka couldn't visit his pet, he'd go in Oneakka's place.

On the pad's screen, Halling watched Seeal scroll down the long list of Earth music on the computer screen and tapped on a new song entitled "_Stand By Me_". Halling nodded along with the slow and steady music, the words sung feeling oddly apt while sat beside Oneakka.

He wondered if Oneakka would appreciate Seeal's dedication these last days sat by his side. Even if he was grateful, experience told Halling that Oneakka would probably say something wrong when his usual injury grump would arrive. Oneakka had never been very good at accepting when he was weak, when he was vulnerable as Seeal had accurately termed it. Still, Halling hoped that Oneakka would appreciate Seeal's presence, regardless as to what might happen later.

He was still undecided whether to say something to Seeal about Oneakka's past history of causing heartbreak. He wasn't sure it was his place, and, for all he knew, perhaps Seeal had left her own trail of heartbreak in her wake. He knew little about her personal life and wasn't entirely sure yet if their new friendship allowed such questions.

The gentle song drew to a close and another began, this one loud and dramatic. Halling lowered his eyes to the list and found the title - "_Danger Zone_" – which seemed oddly apt for when Oneakka finally woke up properly and 'the grump' arrived.

Feeling Seeal's attention, Halling looked up from the pad to find her looking at him thoughtfully.

"Is it weird for you?" She asked, the question surprising him. "Seeing yourself fighting that Skerti again in the simulation? Seeing it from the outside?"

"Though the Generator tech is still relatively new, it has become standard enough practice to replicate important battles to assess strategy and study an enemy's behaviour," he replied. "I am somewhat used to seeing myself in them."

"That creature nearly killed you," Seeal pushed. "That can't be easy to watch through over and over again."

Against his wishes, he shifted slightly in his seat, though he adjusted his jacket so as give himself an apparent reason for moving. "It is useful for me to watch it," he replied.

However, the truth was that it was rather difficult. It hadn't been at first when he had started constructing the re-enactment, but as he'd added more detail and rendered the simulation more completely, it had started to feel all too real. It could never be exactly the same as what he and Seeal had seen, but it was disturbingly close.

He made himself look back at Seeal, only to again find her dark and overly intense gaze fixed on him. She had a deeply penetrative gaze that only a week ago he had found aggressive and invasive. Now he understood it was simply her way and her scrutiny wasn't intended to be disrespectful. She reminded him rather of Oneakka when she looked at him this way, both of them having the ability to stare with such force that it was practically a weapon. Today though, Halling made himself look back at her, facing not just her assessment, but also the fact that watching that Skerti try to murder him really did bring back so many dark thoughts. More than once he'd stopped the simulation midway through, just to prove to himself that it wasn't real.

"Your words say its fine, but your eyes say different," Seeal stated.

He finally allowed himself to look away from her, the Earth song having finished and easing into the next. "A valid assessment," he admitted. "But it is necessary and helpful to watch the fight, see how she moved, the strategies she used, at least as best we both can recall."

He glanced down at the song list as a new cheerful piece began to play, Seeal's finger lifting from having selected it.

"Seemed appropriate," she shrugged.

He smiled down at the song name: "_Stayin' Alive_".

It was a good piece of music with a good name. Seeal was right, the Earth music was very interesting, and there was certainly plenty in the list for her to play to Oneakka as he slept. Perhaps the variety and novelty of the alien music really would help Oneakka wake up faster.

"Honoured Elite Nalla visited again," Seeal reported.

"She said she was going to visit Oneakka early today," he replied, having grown rather used to Seeal's frequent jumps of subject matter during a conversation.

"She did that annoying smiling thing again," Seeal added.

Halling frowned at her, uncertain what she meant by that. "What smiling thing?"

"At Oneakka," Seeal explained. "She leant over him and started smiling."

Halling wasn't sure why that was a bad thing. Clearly he was missing something.

"She did the same thing yesterday. She visits, says hello to him, leans over him slightly and then just smiles."

He wasn't entirely sure he understood why that irritated Seeal, unless it was because of jealousy?

"So today," Seeal continued, "I told her that actually we're all very worried that he hasn't woken up yet."

He held back any comment on that, since it was actually only Seeal that was so worried.

"I see," he replied simply, letting her talk through what she wanted.

The reason for Nalla's smile was most likely because she was reading Oneakka's emotions and was simply pleased at his recovery and sleeping state. If Nalla had been smiling each time she visited, then Halling considered that very reassuring evidence that Oneakka wasn't in any distress.

"She said he's _contented_," Seeal reported.

"_Contented_?" Halling repeated the word with no small amount of surprise.

"That was my reaction too," Seeal nodded emphatically.

There were many words that Halling and others had used to describe Oneakka – brave, strong, difficult, resilient, stubborn, and intelligent - but 'contented' had never been among them.

Halling considered Oneakka's relaxed features again, finding himself looking for signs of contentment in Oneakka's face. Of course there were no such expressions, Oneakka was far too deeply unconscious to show anything like that, but the suggestion that Oneakka was feeling that way...it rather comforted Halling, as the description from Nalla had perhaps been intended to comfort Seeal's concern.

"It must be the drugs he's on," Seeal concluded.

That was possibly true. Contentment was certainly not a standard emotion for Oneakka, but if he was feeling that way now, then Halling was more than happy for Oneakka to sleep on a little longer.

To enjoy the contentment while he could.

0000  
TBC


	7. Bitter Sweet

**DAY 5 – DRIVE**

**Chapter 7 – Bitter Sweet**

Despite the eventful start to her stay in Atlantis, the remainder of her weeklong stay had been very enjoyable.

Teyla felt as if she had met hundreds of John's people these last few days, with more having arrived from Earth to meet her and Si. The trade discussions had gone exceptionally well so far and Teyla had plenty to take back and present to the other Elite. She had no doubt that the trade contract would be agreed within weeks, with only small technical details to be clarified and agreed. Colonel Carter and the IOA representatives had all been very agreeable, open to compromise, and had renewed her confidence that John's people were truly engaged with the contract. Despite the repercussions of Kolya's actions within the Alliance, of which poor Father was taking quite an attack for his steadfast response to trading with the Genii, it was pleasing that the relationship between the Elite and Atlantis seemed only stronger.

As she and John had intended, their Political Marriage was providing significant opportunities for both their peoples and the galaxy as a whole.

And Oneakka was still alive and slowly healing. Though still in a medicated stupor, his Healer was pleased with his progress. She had been visiting his bedside throughout the week, and she believed she was not fooling herself in thinking that Oneakka looked a little better each visit. Halling had remained close to his side, while also overseeing the response to the Skerti threat, and all seemed certain that Oneakka would wake soon.

So, despite the initial horrors and stress of the week, it had actually turned into a success.

And especially so in regards to her relationship with John.

It had been wonderful to spend so many days with him. After enough excuse-riddled appearances during the initial days, Colonel Carter had finally given into John's requests for him to be allowed back on duty and play a part in the trade negotiations and discussions once again. So she had spent the last few days with John almost all the hours of the day and night, and it had felt wonderfully satisfying to work with him to forge the ties between their people as their Political Marriage had been intended.

Of course, their nights together had been her most favourite times. She had slept very little this week, and though she could feel the edge of sleep deprivation around her thoughts, she also felt somehow recharged from her time once again in John's arms. Besides, she could catch up on her sleep once she was back in the Alliance.

They had spent so hours through the nights talking and reconnecting like never before. It felt like both of them had wished to cram as much time together in as they could, if not making love or snoozing in each other's arms, then telling each other stories of their lives before they had met. John had told her detailed stories of his younger years, explaining the years that went into his education and then military training, and how he had loved aircraft since he had been a small boy. She had been fascinated to hear all the details she could, and she could now describe the layout of his boyhood bedroom, the movies he had loved, and the many replica aircraft he had made and hung from his ceiling.

In turn, John had asked her numerous questions about growing up in the forest camp, of her daily childhood routine and how the family tent had been set out. She'd told him of small childhood adventures she'd had with friends pretending to be Elite fighting Wraith along the edge of the trees. She'd told him about the day Zabetha had been born, the day they'd lost Mother, and her first night living in the Governing Complex in Tjaru after Father had been elected Leader.

Her days and her nights had been full, and yet she felt deeply happy.

Though, this afternoon had reduced her joy somewhat, but inevitably this week was always going to end. Within the hour, she and Si would be leaving Atlantis. They had been given an hour to pack up their things, though Si had already done so and was down in the gym for one last sparing session with a large group of Atlantis' warriors who had been sharing combat skills with him all week.

Which had left her with enough time to have a passionate shared shower with John, to dress to depart, and pack up her things.

She pulled open the drawers of the side unit she had been using to house her clothes this past week. She checked through each one, but she had removed everything. She turned on the spot and scanned her eyes around the room one last time.

"You got everything out your bathroom?" John's voice called in through the open adjoining door between the two sides of their quarters.

"Yes," she called back, having checked in there already and also John's bathroom as well.

"You can leave some stuff if you want," he added, entirely contradicting his last question.

She smiled as she pressed down on her clothes and worked to close up her bag. It was far more difficult than when she had packed the bag to come here, for she had decided to take the colourful blanket that John had given her. She could leave it here, but she had wanted to take a part of this time with her, having something from John in her quarters in Athos and the Facility. John had grinned widely when she'd told him that she liked the blanket so much she was taking it so she could keep it with her wherever she happened to sleep. He had promised to get her more things for her room, and she had to wonder how packed full her side of their adjoined quarters would be the next time she visited.

"You could even leave yourself here," John suggested from the next room. He had remained in there with Ketra, who had fallen asleep draped over his legs when he had sat on the floor with her. "We could try hiding you in the shower, say you'd left already."

Teyla laughed at the ridiculous suggestion, but she understood what he was saying – he was going to miss her and didn't want her to leave. She didn't want to leave him either, though she was also looking forward to returning to the Alliance. The ideal solution would be to take him with her, but he had his duties. Hopefully the date for the planned banquet on Athos would be confirmed quickly and he could visit Athos for a short stay with her very soon.

Her bag closed and everything packed up, she ran her hands over her mostly unused bed; well, not entirely unused, for clearly Ketra had taken to sleeping on it since it was free every night. Teyla hadn't had the heart to stop her, and, besides, it certainly helped sell the idea that the bed had been used during her stay.

The bed's sheets smoothed out somewhat, she stood up and consulted her wrist timepiece. There was still a little time left to sit with John before she left.

She collected up her bag and set it up on the side unit's surface alongside her weapons, and laid her jacket over the top. As she did, a pad almost dropped out of one of the jacket's pockets. She caught the pad and turned it on, glancing at the list of reminders she had made for herself during the stay; matters she had wanted to ensure she discussed with Colonel Carter or John, and matters she had noted from discussions here to follow up on with her fellow Elite. She scanned through the end of the list and realised that she had forgotten one last small matter.

She turned off the pad and slid it back into her jacket pocket and headed for the adjoining doorway. "I am all packed," she confirmed to John as she re-entered his side of their quarters.

John looked up from his spot on the floor, his back against the side of his bed, and Ketra fast asleep draped over his legs. Ketra had stayed very close to him this morning, almost as if she knew that they were going to be leaving him soon.

Teyla had spent some of her time this week with Dr Petri studying the Ancestral database's information on Ketra's species. One area of particular fascination was the emotional empathy that the Ancestors had apparently studied in Ketra's kind. She and Dr Petri had gone through all they could find on the matter and had even tried some experiments to test the theory. They had been largely unsuccessful, as Ketra had just seemed confused by Teyla trying to think emotions at her. Growing bored of the experiments, Ketra had simply wandered away to follow her new hobby of tormenting Dr Petri' parrot, Sparrow. Dr Petri had plenty of other ideas on how to test the empathic skills, but Teyla made a mental note to speak to Nalla about the matter. Nalla had previously confirmed that she could read other animals, not just humans and Wraith, so Teyla wondered if Nalla could confirm whether Ketra was picking up her emotions.

Ketra was certainly very comfortable now in Atlantis, her former shyness gone and those in Atlantis all seemed very captivated by her. Unlike in the Alliance, where there were plenty of old scary stories about Ketra's species, those from Earth seemed nothing but fascinated. John had explained that on his world a large majority of people had pets of various species and were fascinated with wild animals.

Ketra was certainly very far from a wild animal now, as she was snoring loudly across John's lap. This morning's skateboard 'run' had worn her out again, but clearly it was doing her good. Though Teyla wondered if perhaps Ketra was getting enough exercise back home. Now she was almost at her mature height and weight, it was possible that Ketra now needed a more physical workout, as she clearly delighted in her runs with John along Atlantis piers.

Lifting her eyes from her sleeping pet, Teyla settled down on the edge of John's bed, her knee against his shoulder. "One matter I had forgotten to pass along to you from yesterday is Seeal's thanks for the Earth music you provided for her."

"Oneakka used the bribe, huh?" John grinned up at her, his free arm settling around her leg, his hand on her knee.

"Apparently," Teyla agreed, though she was not sure of the exact details as to when Oneakka had given Seeal the music collection that John had provided.

"She likes the tunes though right?" John asked, seeming excited about the issue. It had become very clear to her this week that John liked music and often had some playing in his quarters, and she was growing rather used to the variation of the music from his world.

"She said that she very much enjoys _all_ the music," Teyla confirmed.

"She's got good taste," John smiled, clearly very pleased with the news.

"What sort of music did you give to give her?" Teyla asked. Though she had known about the music collection Oneakka had requested from John, she wasn't sure if she had already heard the music collection during her stay.

John quickly looked at his wrist timepiece and then grinned up at her. "We've got enough time if you wanna hear some it?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with no small amount of mischievousness.

"Yes, please," she smiled wondering what he was up to.

"Cool," he gently shifted Ketra's head and long neck off his legs, which was greeted with some dragon grumbles, but Ketra quickly settled her chin on the floor instead and her eyes drifted shut as John climbed to his feet.

"I'll play you some of my favourites from the list," John declared as he headed to where his flat Earth computer sat on the side. He could have asked her to bring it to him, but clearly he had wanted to get up for it. He definitely had something planned.

As he worked on the computer, he glanced round at her. "First, I'll play you my theme tune," he grinned.

"Theme tune?" She asked, his grin suggesting there was a joke to this.

"As in it describes me and who I am," he explained, his tone seemingly serious now, but she was not fooled.

"Then I am very much looking forward to hearing about you in musical form," she replied as she drew her legs up onto his bed, crossing them into a comfortable position.

"Here we go," he uttered as he tapped a control on the computer with a flourish and turned towards her.

Several quick beats echoed loudly out of the speakers behind him and then a voice started.

"_Some people call me the Space Cowboy_," the voice stated and John sung along with it, pointing to himself with both hands.

Teyla laughed at the words, but also the unexpected display.

"_Yeah_," John sang next with feeling, starting to move towards her with a playful seductive expression.

"_Some call me the gangster of love_," John sang along next, drawing out the word 'love' as he swung his hips one way and then the other.

She couldn't stop herself laughing happily.

"_Some people call me Maurice_," was the next line, but John performed it as if he was confused at the name. "_'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love_."

"Pompatus?" Teyla tried the strange word. It had not translated to her.

"_People talk about me baby, say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong_," John continued with feeling, moving in time with the rhythm as he moved closer. "_Well don't you worry, baby, don't worry_," he sang to her as if reassuring her. "_'Cause I'm right here at home_," he said with feeling.

She laughed in delight.

"_'Cause I'm a picker. I'm a grinner. I'm a lover_," he waggled his hips seductively this time, almost to her on the bed. "_And I'm a sinner_," he winked as he leant in down towards her.

She reached up and set her fingers against his chin as she met his kiss, the music continuing in the background.

He pulled his lips from hers. "You wanna dance with me, pretty lady?" He asked in a slightly unusual accent, slurring his words slightly. She suspected it was part of the 'space cowboy' persona he was playing.

"Of course," she agreed readily, climbing up from her crossed legged position on the bed. He held one of her hands as she stepped to the floor and his free arm wrapped around her middle.

"Show you how to dance Earth-style," he smiled as he pulled her tight up against his body.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pressed herself even closer as he moved them side to side along with the now wordless music.

"I am not so sure this is an exclusively Earth style of dancing," she informed him as they moved together.

"Sure it is," he grinned back as he folded their joined hands in-between them, holding the back of her hand up against the middle of his chest.

The music shifted and the voice returned, and, once again, John began to sing along with it.

"_You're the cutest thing that I ever did see_," he sang to her with feeling and she felt herself growing a little warm with delight. "_I really love your peaches_," he added with a glance down at her chest and she shook her head at him playfully. "_Wanna shake your tree_," he sang as he lifted both his eyebrows suggestively which, had they no restriction on time, would no doubt have led to them tumbling back onto his bed.

But there was no more time for that, regretfully.

So she drew her hand over his shoulder and stroked her fingers against his cheek. He pressed his cheek into her touch before she rose up a little on her toes to press her mouth to his.

His mouth softened to hers immediately, moulding close and moving passionately slow. As the kiss lingered, they kept swaying with the music, their bodies moving together as one.

As the music eventually drifted away, silence filling the air, their mouths parted, but she kept her eyes closed to savour the moment. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and then gently brushed his lips against her skin.

"You sure you don't want to stay here with me forever?" He asked quietly against her temple.

She opened her eyes, the two of them still moving to a silent song that their bodies could still hear, and smiled up at him.

"We could shut ourselves away," he continued with his plan. "Eating takeout, drinking Athosian tea, and making out."

"It sounds wonderful, but we would need to leave eventually," she pointed out.

"I think we could make it," he disagreed as if it was a military strategy. She grinned up at him as she stroked her fingertips through his hair at the back of his warm neck.

"We could push the two beds together, make one big bed," he suggested, which sounded a very good idea to her.

"We have my large new bed in Tjaru to try out together," she recalled.

"Oh yeah," he grinned at the idea. "Our wedding gift."

"We shall try it out as soon as we can when you visit in the next week or so," she promised him.

He nodded, but his smile was falling away. "Just make sure to take care of yourself out there," he asked her. She suspected that Oneakka's near death had spooked John a little, bringing her dangerous life into all too sharp focus for him.

"I promise," she reassured him. "And you need to promise to watch where you are walking."

He made a show of rolling his eyes. "You fall down one muddy pit..."

She laughed happily. "We shall have time together on Athos, and we can walk through the courtyards together, sit in the Orchard under the moonlight."

"You've got yourself date," John promised.

She smiled back, but her own melancholy was starting to settle in. She did not want to leave him.

John was the one to lift his arm to check the time. "We've gotta go," he confirmed the bad news and stopped their soft, gentle swaying together.

She nodded her agreement as she stilled with him, but she didn't let go of him yet. "Thank you for these days, my love," she told him softly.

He smiled softly back. "You're welcome _any _time," he told her. "Wifey," he added. It had become something of a nickname, on the surface a teasing joke, but underneath full of love. That, she realised, was a far more accurate description of him than as a 'space cowboy'.

He dipped his head and she pressed her lips against his for their last kiss before her departure.

There would be official words exchanged in the Gate Room, confirmations of trade and a new strong friendship between the Elite, Athos, and Atlantis, and perhaps some ceremony before she and Si left.

But this was her proper goodbye, and her last chance to be alone with her John for her stay.

She felt the tears in her eyes through the kiss, felt the instinctive urge to stay with him, and the simmering fear that something might happen to him while they were apart. But neither of them could change the reality of their lives.

So, she sank into the kiss, her last for too many days, and let herself drift in his love for the seconds they had left together.

00000  
TBC


	8. Sleep's End

**Note:** This chapter brings 'Day 5' to a close and, with it, the last chapter I can likely post before Christmas; so I thought it should be a very important chapter for this evening. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas. Xx

00000

**DAY 5 – DRIVE**

**Chapter 8 – Sleep's End**

The sun had slowly lowered through the sky, so gradual that Oneakka hadn't been aware of it until he registered the glowing shift of moonlight across the training field.

His cheek still pressed to the grass, he blinked at the sideways view of the now pale moon-cast blades. The tiny flowers among the grass had all closed up, tucking their petals together to sleep, but their delicate scent still lingered in the air around him.

Lying, arms still outstretched as if hugging the Ugun ground beneath him, the grass remained warm and comfortable under his front. But then he'd been lying here all day.

The sounds of the village had faded too, he realised.

Holding his breath, he sought out the ring of Father's hammer and the distant chatter of people moving along the paths near the field.

All was quiet now though. No one else was around anymore.

His family were gone.

Except...

There was something new in the air, just audible enough to reach his ear turned up towards the darkened Ugun sky.

Music?

He focused on the unexpected sound, listening to the rising and lowering instrumental melody drifting in the moonlight around him.

Slowly it grew gradually louder.

And more recognisable.

Litan music?

Why would there be Litan music here?

He frowned against the now noticeably cooling grass.

The moonlight shifted across his view, the long patches of brighter light sliding away across the field, leaving darker night behind.

Something was changing; he wasn't sure what, but he felt it.

A sense of growing concern niggled at him and trained instinct kicked in. He held his breath again, holding completely still, as he sought out any tiny sound that might tell of an impending attack.

The music was all he could hear though, except...a voice briefly danced in the air.

A Whisperer.

He let out his held breath in relief.

She was here.

Somewhere.

He couldn't remember who she was exactly, but knowing she was there meant-

The air abruptly stirred and a dark shadow passed quickly over him.

He froze, hearing the soft crumple of something hitting the grass close by.

He strained his hearing again, picking up tiny shifting sounds now that told him something was moving towards him.

Whatever it was, it was just out of his sideways view of the field, so he slowly started to lift his cheek from the grass and carefully turned his head to look round as subtly as possible.

Several small pointed black claws came into view, stood on the grass mere inches from his face. He held still and tracked his gaze up two thin dark bird legs to the puffed up feathered breast of a raven stood staring intently at him.

The bird turned its head, examining him with one jet black eye and then the other.

And then it let out the loudest squawk he'd ever heard and its beak jutted suddenly towards his face.

He woke in an abrupt instant.

The field was gone, the soft sensations of the damp dewy night lost, and instead all was dark and heavy.

Some memories started to slowly resurface of who he was, though his thoughts had a thick and sullen weight to them, but he knew he had felt like this before.

Medication.

Which meant he was hurt.

He worked to pull open his eyelids, now vividly aware of the Litan music. It was coming from somewhere off to his left, the volume low and gentle as he struggled to open his eyes.

A ceiling slowly appeared above him, one he seemed to remember seeing before. Had he woken up before now?

He blinked slowly up at the subdued lighting across the pale ceiling...it was evening. Had he been asleep all day?

Hadn't there been something really important he'd been doing? Something about...

Halling!

Yes, Halling. He'd been worried about Halling...but he could also remember Halling smiling down at him, telling him that the threat had passed.

He wasn't sure what the threat had been. Was he supposed to be going back into battle?

Blinking slowly, he managed to move his lips and his tongue felt dry and thick. He licked at his lips and worked against the urge to close his heavy eyes again.

"Why aren't you working?!" A familiar voice stated abruptly from the left.

The raven in its human form.

He moved his eyes towards her voice, his head fortunately following them, seeking her out.

She came into slightly blurry view, sat beside his bed, though she was looking down and away from him.

The raven.

One of his whisperers.

Seeal. Her name was easy to find now and he blinked again, bringing her features into slightly sharper focus.

And just beyond her, there was a small window in a nearby wall, typical of the Healing Bays; so he was in the Facility.

He was home.

0000

The coding wasn't working. She'd tried various ways to get the tiny test program to work, but it refused to cooperate.

The long hours spent at Oneakka's bedside this week had given her plenty of time to get back up-to-date with her project work, but she'd made little progress on the latest test program. Her only consolation was that no one else in the project had been able to get the thing to work either, so her ongoing failures weren't as embarrassing as they felt. It was still really annoying, especially because she had no idea why it wasn't working. This was supposed to be her area of expertise!

Maybe she was too tired. Despite Oneakka's refusal to wake up, it had still been tiring being here so many hours a day. Medical staff, Healers, and regular short visits by other Elite or Facility staff to see Oneakka broke up the long shifts, but otherwise she sat at his silent side and tried not to worry that his brain had turned to soup and that he might never wake up again.

She'd decided that the Earth music had been too distracting and so she'd put on some soothing Litan music for the evening, hoping it would improve her understanding of why this stupid coding wasn't working.

Unfortunately, the change in music hadn't helped at all.

The computer pad she had balanced on her lap bleeped gently.

"Well that didn't work," she told the silent and unmoving Oneakka. She was getting a little too used to running a one-sided conversation with him. "It's because I'm tired," she decided with a frustrated sigh. "Next time I need to say yes when Massa offers to bring me another tea." She jabbed at the pad's screen, re-keying in the commands yet again. "There's no logical reason why this isn't working."

She sent the sequence running again and looked up from the screen. Being late evening, the lights were low throughout the Healing Bay, but she'd kept a smaller brighter light on to her right, shining down over her two computer pads as she worked.

"It's probably the lighting," she told Oneakka. "It's making me sleepy." She picked up the second pad and scrolled through the latest project reports looking for a clue as to what was going wrong.

"It's probably sitting next to you all fast asleep and drugged up that's not helping," she told him as she frowned at the lines of technical text. "It's soporific."

The first pad bleeped a quiet call for her attention. The compiling had failed yet again.

"Why aren't you working?!" She demanded from it.

It made no sense to her.

She scrolled through the coding yet again, but-

Something moved and she glanced round.

To find Oneakka looking back at her.

It took her a split second to comprehend that he really was looking at her, his gaze a little foggy, but his blue eyes were open and his head was turned towards her.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed far too loudly as she shot up from her seat, the first pad clattering loudly to the floor, but she ignored it as she leant over his bedside. "You're okay," she assured him quickly, resting a hand on his upper arm. "You're in the Training Facility's Healing Bay."

His eyes had tracked her movement despite looking a little unfocused, which had to be a good thing, and he nodded back at her, which meant he could understand her at least.

Though that didn't discount memory loss or other brain damage.

She frowned worriedly at him. "Do you know who I am?" She asked.

He made a slight noise, as if trying to clear his voice and he moved his lips as if working out how to talk again. That couldn't be good, could it?

Then he managed to clear his voice a little and whisper something, his throat clearly dry. She leaned closer to him.

"Trouble," he whispered.

Did he mean he was uncomfortable? That trouble had happened to him, because that was damn obvious considering –

Wait? Did he mean her? "_I'm_ trouble?" She checked.

He nodded again and there was a faint shift of a smile across his tired pale face as he worked a long sleepy blink.

She straightened up to her full height, pulling her hand from his arm and crossed her arms as she glared down at him. "Well clearly your bad sense of humour survived intact," she told him. "Here I've been sitting by your bedside night and day, and that's what I get, is it?" She demanded.

Though, the truth was, he couldn't have said anything more reassuring for her – not only did he clearly recognise her, but he remembered their banter.

"You...asked," he whispered in his croaking voice.

At which point she remembered that she was supposed to call in the Healers when he woke up, so she reached over to the call button by his monitors and triggered it.

"Halling?" Oneakka asked brokenly.

"He's fine," she reassured him before quickly reaching down to the floor for her fallen pad. "I'll let him know you're awake," she jabbed at the screen to call up the text links she'd prepared days ago ready for this very moment. As she triggered the messages to Halling and Massa, she heard hurrying footsteps coming down the corridor towards the open door.

A group of Healing Bay staff rushed into the room, all eyes locking on Oneakka, unsure if they'd been called in for an emergency.

"He just woke up," Seeal informed them quickly. "He seems okay."

"Call in Meiyo," the evening duty Healer ordered his people as he reached the other side of Oneakka's bed. "Good evening, Honoured Elite," the Healer smiled politely as Oneakka slowly rolled his head to the right to look up at the Healer. "Do you know where you are?"

"Facility," Oneakka croaked.

"I already told him that," Seeal put in.

"Can we get some water please," the Healer asked a staff member beside him and within seconds a cup with a long straw was held to Oneakka's lips.

As Oneakka took in some much needed water, Seeal dropped her attention to her pad to see both Halling and Massa had received her text links already; Massa had replied that he would be there as soon as Aki allowed and Halling was on his way.

She looked up from the pad as Oneakka's assigned personal Healer, Meiyo, entered the busy room. The older woman headed straight to Oneakka's side and Seeal saw Oneakka smile up at her. He recognised her too. Good.

"Honoured Elite Oneakka," Meiyo smiled brightly down at him like he was a family member rather than a patient. "Welcome back to us. Do you know my name?" She asked.

"Meiyo," Oneakka replied, his voice already slightly better thanks to the water.

"Good," Meiyo smiled as she pulled a thin metal tube from her pocket and clicked a button on its side, lighting up one end. "Can you tell me what you do as a career?" She asked as she shone the small light into one of Oneakka's eyes.

"Elite warrior," Oneakka replied as she shone the light into his other eye.

There was a faint lisp to his words, like he was sleepy. It was probably the medication. Meiyo was a very experienced Healer so Seeal was pretty sure she'd have noticed the slurring.

"Good. How many fingers am I holding up?" Meiyo asked as she held up three of her fingers for him.

Oneakka took a moment to blink at her fingers, as if he was having to refocus his eyes. Hopefully that wasn't a bad thing.

"Three," he reported correctly though.

"Good," Meiyo smiled. "Can you show me your tongue," she asked next and proceeded to shine her light into Oneakka's mouth. "Dry throat?" She asked and Oneakka nodded slightly. "Understandable." She told him as she reached down to Oneakka's closest hand. "Can you hold my hand? Good. Squeeze it for me. Not too much, I know how strong you big Elite can be," she joked with a soft smile. "Very good."

Meiyo pulled her hand from Oneakka's and started to move down the other side of his bed. "You know the drill here, Honoured Elite. Can you feel this?" She asked as she pressed the end of her light against the outside of Oneakka's leg. Seeal quickly looked back up to Oneakka's face.

He nodded.

Seeal let out a faint breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"And how about here?" Meiyo asked as she pressed against the outside of his lower leg hidden under the blankets.

He nodded again. Good.

Meiyo rounded the end of the bed and gripped both his covered feet. "And can you move both of your feet for me?"

Seeal fixed her eyes on Meiyo's hands and there was a definite shift of the blankets as Oneakka moved his feet.

"_Very_ good," Meiyo smiled as she started up this side of the bed. "And the same for this side?" She asked as she pressed the end of the metal light against the outside of his leg and he nodded again. Seeal shifted back from his bedside, giving Meiyo room as the Healer moved up to Oneakka's shoulder. "And take my hand again," Meiyo asked of him and Seeal saw his hand lift easily from the bed and grip the Healer's hand.

This was all really good. He could move everything, was responding to questions, and seemed to know everyone so far.

Halling abruptly burst through the doorway behind Meiyo's staff, looking a little out of breath. Everyone instantly made room for him and he hurried towards the far side of Oneakka's bed.

"My friend," Halling reached down and laid both his hands on Oneakka's head and bent down and touched his forehead to Oneakka's.

Seeal glanced away, the urge to cry rushing through her.

"He is doing very well," Meiyo reported to Halling as Halling lifted his forehead from Oneakka's. Seeal shifted a little down the room, so that she could see Oneakka's face as Meiyo slid her light back into her pocket and settled her hand on Oneakka's shoulder.

"Honoured Elite," Meiyo said down to Oneakka, drawing his attention back to her. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

Oneakka's eyes shifted over to Halling. "The Hive," he said softly. "I fell."

"We believe that you were impaled by a piece of a Hive, Honoured Elite," Meiyo explained calmly to him as if that kind of thing happened all the time. Actually, maybe it did for Elite.

"We were able to close your wound," Meiyo continued, "but you did lose a great deal of blood. We used up all your blood stock, so we will be needing to build that up again soon," she seemed to joke and Oneakka actually smiled up at her, as if nearly dying of blood loss was something funny between them.

"You are on your severe injury medication plan," Meiyo continued to him. "We have reduced your initial stage high sedation drugs and are onto stage two."

"How long?" Oneakka asked brokenly, blinking slowly.

"Have you been here?" Meiyo asked and Oneakka nodded. "Five days," she informed him and Seeal saw him frown. "You are still very weak and will need to remain in the Healing Bay for _several_ weeks _at least_," the Healer emphasised. "I would like to put you under the scanner again tomorrow morning to check on your wound site and we will talk through your care plan then."

Oneakka nodded his agreement.

"Good," the Healer smiled as she patted his shoulder. "Then I will leave you with your caretakers, but if you need any additional pain medication tonight, just call in the duty Healer."

"We will," Halling was the one to answer.

"I shall see you in the morning," Meiyo nodded and started to move away. "He is doing very well," the Healer repeated to Seeal as she passed by. Seeal smiled back, though a little unsure why she needed the individual reassurance, but it was good news.

Seeal watched as Meiyo led all of the Bay staff back out of the room, leaving her and Halling alone with Oneakka.

Seeal wasn't sure if she should go too, maybe give Halling time alone with Oneakka?

Halling pulled a chair up to the far side of Oneakka and sat down, his elbows on the edge of the bed and Oneakka's hand held in his. It seemed a kind of intimate moment and Halling looked clearly moved...maybe she shouldn't be here...

"Do you remember sending Seeal to help me?" Halling asked Oneakka.

Well, this involved her, so she could stay for this bit.

"Ancient enemy," Oneakka answered him, the lisp still there. Meiyo hadn't said anything about the slow speech, so presumably he was okay and it was just the medication he was on.

"Yes," Halling nodded with a clearly relieved smile. "They are called the Skerti."

"You...got it?" Oneakka asked brokenly.

"Yes, Seeal arrived just in time to save me," Halling reported, the tall male's dark eyes lifting to her.

Oneakka rolled his head against his pillow, his blue eyes coming into view and fixing on her again with that slightly foggy focus.

"Well, Halling beheading it was what really did her in," she explained.

Oneakka blinked slowly, seeming like he was fighting to stay awake now, but he smiled up at her. "Thank you, Raven," he whispered.

She felt kind of weird at the very sincere open gratitude. "You're welcome," she replied.

"How did you know, Oneakka?" Halling asked and Oneakka rolled his head back towards Halling. "How did you know what the Queen really was?"

It was the question they had been speculating about for days. The top theory had been that Oneakka had found something, either in a chamber in the Hive or perhaps on a Wraith interface.

"A Wraith," Oneakka answered weakly.

Seeal blinked at that surprise explanation, and saw Halling pause as well.

"A Wraith told you?" Halling asked him.

Oneakka nodded faintly, his eyes moving away from Halling like he was remembering. "One of them didn't attack...like the others...hid. Told me they had been...tricked, led there by a false queen."

Seeal moved back towards the side of Oneakka's bed, drawn in by the story.

"Said she was...returned ancient evil," Oneakka finished, looking back at Halling.

"You realised it was Sitayi' prophecy," Halling nodded.

Oneakka nodded. "I tried to get to you. The corridor...floor collapsed. Fell. Managed to climb up, try to warn you." Touches of the panicked fear she remembered all too vividly from the Hive echoed in his voice.

"You did warn me; you sent Seeal to save me," Halling's hand worked around Oneakka's, and Seeal could see tears forming in Halling's eyes.

A month ago she would never have believed Elite would cry, or, if they did, then she'd have felt very uncomfortable around a crying one. Now, it felt almost natural to see Halling showing such emotion after all they'd been through.

"She found me," Oneakka replied and his blue eyes shifted back towards her.

The moment she had been waiting for was finally here.

She leaned a little closer to him, holding his gaze. "I _told_ you not to go onto that Hive, but you didn't listen to me."

He smiled sleepily up at her.

It wasn't quite the response she'd expected, but she'd made her point. In fact, she'd make sure to remind him of it again once he was off these strong meds.

Oneakka's smile slipped as his eyelashes swept down and back up in a very long sleepy blink. She suspected he wasn't going to be able to stay awake much longer.

"Says the woman who ran onto the same Hive," Halling added from Oneakka's far side.

Seeal gave Halling a glare. "Don't go taking his side," she told him, but Halling was smiling at her and she couldn't stop herself smiling back at him.

"We're all okay," Oneakka muttered softly and Seeal looked back to see that his eyes had closed properly this time.

"Sleep, my brother," Halling told him. "We will stay by your side."

Oneakka let out a deep sigh that might have been a word, but it was lost in sleep.

Seeal watched his eyelids flutter slightly and then still.

He really was okay.

He clearly hadn't suffered any brain damage, she'd gotten to tell him she had been right all along, and his Healer appeared happy with his progress.

It felt like a weight lifted off her in that moment as she watched him sleep, but as it lifted there was a wave of tiredness rushing in behind it. She'd been more worried than she'd realised. Worried that, had he lost his memories, she'd have lost the version of him that she'd known, the man who had helped her find her path away from the dark mistakes of the past, and who had laughed so loudly at her freaking out about falling into a river of fish.

She pulled her eyes away from his peaceful face and glanced over to Halling, to find that he was already looking her way.

"He's okay," Halling said quietly with a soft reassuring smile, Oneakka's relaxed hand still held in his.

She smiled and nodded as she settled back down on her formerly abandoned chair, the Litan music still playing softly in the background.

She'd stay little bit longer to keep Halling company.

00000  
TBC


	9. Avowal

**Note:** I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas (if you celebrate it) and wishing you all a very happy New Year. Wow, 2020 – so very scifi! After the short break, the fic starts up on 'Day 7' of the story and, of course, the New Year has to start with our John's pov...

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**DAY 7 – Discussions **

**Chapter 9 - Avowal**

Something was up.

John was almost certain.

Years worth of experience of getting into trouble had fine tuned his ability to hear certain tones in the voices of his superiors, and there had definitely been something 'off' in Colonel Carter's voice when she had called him up to her office.

He'd been down in the Infirmary keeping Carson company; well, actually Carson had been off working on some research thing, so John had focused on helping with the large jigsaw Carson had been working on. It was part of the Doc's physical rehab, and just plain a tradition for everyone when stuck sick in the Infirmary. With Teyla gone two days now, John had needed the distraction, and the jigsaw had been turning into a group effort as he, Rodney, and Cadman had been regularly visiting Carson.

Then Carter had called him on the radio and asked him to join her in her office. Yep, something was up.

As he headed across the Gate Room to the wide central stairs, he craned his neck to peer up towards the Control Room, but there wasn't any hint of a crisis and the Gate wasn't active, so no one was dialled in from the Alliance.

Nearing the top of the stairs, John looked over his shoulder towards Carter's glass-walled office to see that she had company in there. General O'Neill and Colonel Sumner were just about visible. Yep, something was happening, and, from the Colonel's tone, it wasn't good.

Turning on the landing to the small flight of final steps up into the Control Room, John paused on the top stair and peered around the corner, looking across the Control Room and down the walkway to the Colonel's office. Through the glass door he could see his three superiors were gathered together in the middle of the office, stood in a semi-circle and they all looked pretty serious.

A quick glance around the Control Room confirmed no increased activity, no prepping for a mission, and no IOA lingering about the place. So, it probably wasn't that bad news had come in from the Alliance, like Kolya doing something newly evil.

So whatever it was required just him alone to visit the Colonel's office. Well, that couldn't be good!

Peering back towards Carter's office, John squinted at her face, but as she was stood in profile he couldn't get a good handle on her expression. The General, stood in the centre of the little semi-circle of superiors, was easy to see though. John pulled back a fraction so O'Neill wouldn't spot him. The General looked serious, which wasn't the most normal of expressions on the guy.

Colonel Sumner made up the other side of the group, his left profile giving absolutely nothing away. He had his arms crossed, but that wasn't that unusual with the gruff guy.

Racking his brains, John was almost certain he hadn't done anything lately that would get him into trouble. Which left only two other possibilities: either the IOA had made a decision about whether they were going to stop him from going on missions anymore or there were questions about him and Teyla.

He couldn't think why they would suddenly have found out about him and Teyla, but it had certainly been playing on his mind lately. He'd caught himself repeatedly worrying that a superior, or a member of the IOA team, would abruptly ask him for details about his relationship with Teyla.

His saving grace in the event of that actually happening would be that he and Teyla were married now, and though it was 'just' a Political Marriage in their eyes, for John it was a very real marriage. He'd even gotten the paperwork completed and sent back to Earth that officially registered the marriage back home. The funny thing had been that the digital form had already included a box for 'planet of origin' next to 'name' and 'date of birth'. Clearly Earth were already geared up for dealing with aliens on their forms. He'd had no idea how to fill in the 'date of birth' box for Teyla, so had had to fill in 'to be confirmed'. The next time he saw Teyla, he'd ask her how Athosians record dates of birth.

He wondered if that alone was a good enough excuse to contact her sooner than planned.

He was getting distracted – he needed to focus on the worry at hand.

So, if their marriage was official here, in the Alliance, and soon on Earth, there was nothing _technically_ wrong with him and Teyla having a proper relationship. So if they were going to ask about him and Teyla, he could use that argument.

The only small area that really concerned him about that though, was if he was officially asked about his relationship with Teyla _prior_ to their marriage, and whether it had been part of the reason why he'd gone and made an offer of Political Marriage without permission that had forced Atlantis and the whole of Earth into a legally binding contract. If he answered that honestly, he suspected that, at the very least, he'd get an official reprimand or, at the very worst, he'd be fired.

He just had to hope they never asked him that particular question.

He couldn't imagine that was what the two Colonels and the General wanted to ask him about today...was it? What if there were questions about the marriage forms he'd supplied? No, that couldn't be it. Could it? Maybe it had kicked off questions back on Earth?

Okay, he was getting paranoid. Just because all he could think about for the last two days was Teyla, didn't mean that everyone else was thinking about her and him too.

He'd been coping pretty well since she'd left; he'd kept busy, running twice a day, and spending time visiting Carson to help with the jigsaw.

Sure he'd been thinking about her near constantly, and had each evening gone and sat in her side of their adjoining quarters. He'd even brewed up some of her Athosian tea just so he could smell it again.

He'd definitely not been 'moping' though as Rodney had described it. Rodney had just been trying to wind him up during their daily off-world trips on the universe's dullest missions. Since the IOA still wouldn't allow him on any missions outside of scientist babysitting missions to well known 'friendly' planets, his team had been stuck on boring outings. He'd tried to make the point to Mr Woolsey that Kolya had kidnapped him on a supposedly friendly planet, but that argument hadn't really worked in his favour.

Maybe then the reason for today's call to Carter's office was about that. What if the IOA had finally convinced Earth Defense that he was to be grounded? What if Carter was about to tell him he was never allowed out of Atlantis again unless it was to the Alliance?

If he never went on missions again, what the hell was he going to do with his time here? Sit in long boring IOA meetings and nothing else? Or what if he was being sent back to Earth? No, they couldn't do that now he was Teyla's Political Husband. Even if they did ground him, he'd at least still get to go into the Alliance for his new regular stays with Teyla. Apparently he was even going to get to visit the Elite's big headquarters Facility at some point soon, which was going to be cool.

But still, what was he going to do with his time if the IOA wouldn't let him do anything interesting again? Would they even let him fly a Jumper again?

A faint movement in John's peripheral vision caught his attention and he realised that Chuck had spotted him loitering on the stairs and peering around the corner at the distant office. John sent Chuck a faint smile and lifted a hand to his ear as he turned away, pretending that he was talking to someone on the radio.

Whatever the meeting was about, one thing was certain and that was that he wasn't going to find out what was going on stood out here. He just needed to get on with it. Face whatever it was directly and be ready to make some damn good arguments against whatever the hell was going on.

Taking a big fortifying breath, he turned back to the Control Room and strode forward, heading straight through the room and heading for the walkway to Carter's office. While also ignoring Chuck's bemused smile.

The General spotted John the second his boots hit the walkway and John saw O'Neill mutter something and both Colonels looked round. Serious expressions and a grim lack of smiles greeted John as he pulled open the glass door and stepped inside.

"Major," O'Neill said overly sternly, "you sure took your time getting up here."

John stepped into the available empty spot in the circle and stood at attention, because it certainly felt like an attention-worthy atmosphere in here.

"Sorry, Sir," he quickly replied, "I was waiting for my latest blood test results in the Infirmary." It wasn't a complete lie, as he'd been going in each day for his blood tests, but he'd actually had the result an hour ago. The results in, he'd ended up staying in the Infirmary to be with Carson and work on the jigsaw, whilst definitely _not_ moping.

He'd been more than happy for the daily trips to the Infirmary for Carson to closely monitor the Wraith protein that had been reducing in his bloodstream since the little 'incident' with Todd.

He'd been working damn hard not to think about the feedings, which he'd managed to achieve during the day. However, at night the nightmares had started. He'd not had any while Teyla had been with him, but, now she was gone, the last two nights had been filled with vivid re-enactments of the feedings, as well as a repeating story about Kolya invading Atlantis again, only this time he killed everyone but John.

"Pleasing results, I assume?" Colonel Carter asked from the left of the circle. It occurred to John that she'd probably already had the results from the Infirmary an hour ago.

"No trace of the protein today," John confirmed. At least that was some good news.

"That's good," Carter smiled at him, but then she glanced away and her smile disappeared.

John's stomach dropped.

"Sheppard," O'Neill cut in, snapping John's attention back to him. "You've been the subject of a lot of talk back home."

Oh, God they were going to ground him!

"Top Brass talkin' about ya," O'Neill continued, but there was now a faint touch of his more unusual humour in his voice; probably trying to soften the blow.

"They are, Sir?" John asked as casually as he could manage.

"Some decisions have been made about your future," O'Neill supplied, his deeply dark eyes feeling a little too sharp and knowing.

He was being grounded! All his practiced argument points fled from his brain.

"And it falls on me," O'Neill continued, "apparently the most superior among us," he glanced pointedly towards both the Colonels beside him and the back to John, "to do the deed."

John worked on keeping his shoulders relaxed and on not losing it when the news arrived.

"I've never been one for any of that pomp and circumstance and ceremonial crap," O'Neill waved a hand in the air vaguely, "so I'll just say, congratulations _Lieutenant Colonel _Sheppard." O'Neill's hand extended towards John.

It took John a second to replay that in his head before being absolutely certain he'd heard the General correctly.

"Me?" John found his mouth saying. "Really?" He quickly checked.

"Yes, Sheppard," O'Neill grinned at him.

Carter's hand landed on John's shoulder as he shook the General's hand. "Congratulations, John," she laughed. They'd been playing a fake out on him! "No one is more deserving."

"Thank you," John replied, still feeling thrown.

"Now there's going to be the usual boring training stuff you'll need to do," O'Neill said, "and apparently the IOA want you to meet some bespeckled Ambassadorial types to help you talk politician-"

"By which we mean," Colonel Carter cut in, "the IOA are going to offer you the chance to train with some of their top negotiators and Ambassadors to help you in your new role liaising with the Alliance." That made a bit more sense.

"So, you'll have to head back to Earth for that," O'Neill continued.

"Earth?" John asked surprised. They usually got to do a correspondence version of the Air Force education training here in Atlantis.

"Yes," Carter nodded. "But we've managed to make the point with the IOA that now is not the best time for you to head back to Earth, with the trade negotiations with the Elite still to be finalised. Once the contract is signed and things have hopefully settled in the Alliance about Kolya, you'll be heading home for a small spell."

John felt his mood drop a little. He'd probably be away for at least a month for all that, so he was going to miss out on Teyla time. Still, that probably wouldn't be for a few months yet.

"Okay," he agreed. "And what about my still getting to work off-world missions outside the Alliance?" He checked.

Carter's gaze slid to the General. "That's still being clarified with the IOA."

"Argued about really," O'Neill interpreted. "As far as the Air Force and Earth Defense are concerned, you're our minion and we can put you in whatever deadly dangerous situations we want."

"Thank you, Sir," John smiled, appreciating the support, though the way the General had phrased it hadn't been entirely optimistic now John thought about it.

O'Neill grinned back at him, clearly enjoying the moment.

"I'll send you through details of the promotion and the pay rise," Carter reported.

John nodded along. "Okay, sure."

He was a Lieutenant Colonel!

"But, until then," she smiled as held out her hand. "Congratulations again, Lieutenant Colonel."

John shook her hand happily, still not quite believing it.

Lieutenant Colonel?

"Don't forget though," the General added, "with greater responsibility comes the greater weight of crap that can fall on you."

"Yes, Sir," John smiled.

Another hand reached out towards him; Colonel Sumner.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Sumner said as John shook the Colonel's hand. Looking into Sumner's gaze, John couldn't help wonder what the guy thought about this. They'd had a rather turbulent history and the guy had never really approved of John's presence on the expedition, but things had started to improve of late.

"Thank you, Colonel," John nodded to him.

"Once the IOA pull their finger out with a decision about your future, we'll talk about your new responsibilities here," Sumner stated as they released each other's grip. "Either way, we'll make sure we keep you somewhere _useful_."

From the outside that could have sounded like a faint threat, but to John it felt like a real show of support at the possibility of John being grounded. Colonel Sumner was many things – gruff, difficult, overbearing and stern - but ultimately he was a true career military man and John saw real understanding in the man's gaze.

John nodded gratefully. "Thank you, _Sir_."

Sumner nodded back.

"So, I'm thinking champagne?" O'Neill grinned towards Colonel Carter.

"There isn't any," she replied, but her tone said that, even if there was, now was not the time, being it wasn't even lunch yet.

"You always spoil my fun," the General told her, but he was smiling, his eyes sparkling.

John frowned slightly at that smile, suspecting he saw something a little extra in the expression.

There had been plenty of rumours for years about O'Neill and Carter, though John had pretty much ignored them; the two of them had a long and massive history fighting alongside each other and were clearly friends, and often people could misinterpret things like that. Besides, who was he to judge?

However, John now had to wonder himself. Not so much because of the General's informality, but because he recognised a little too much of himself in the grin that could so easily be interpreted as flirtatious.

Maybe he wasn't the only one hiding a secret relationship?

00000

Halling's days were starting to settle into something close to a steady routine.

When he arose in the mornings, he went directly to the Healing Bay to share First Meal with Oneakka, with Massa often joining them as he usually took the earliest shift to sit at Oneakka's bedside. After the meal, Halling then dedicated his mornings to the Skerti research. Overseeing and liaising with Silvar's team, Imseti on The Mad Moon, the Fleet Commanders, the Military Council, and his fellow Elite, his mornings and evenings were very full; while his afternoons were dedicated to sitting with Oneakka, though as Oneakka slept a great deal, during those long pauses, Halling continued the Skerti research via text link and writing his own reports.

As well as liaising between the various groups, he had also established a team of researchers within the Facility. Set up in a project room, they were tasked with looking for any clues of the Skerti in both data and legend, looking for any hint of the new enemy both within and beyond the Alliance border. Today he had also been in discussion with Colonel Carter via the Portal. The Colonel had so far found no information within Atlantis' database relating to the individuals seen in the Ancestral recording that had supplied the one and only documented reference of the Skerti so far.

Halling agreed with Colonel Carter that the lack of information in Atlantis suggested that the Ancestors had suppressed the information. Colonel Carter still appeared intent to find something, and had her own research team looking to see if they could retrieve any deleted information in the Ancestral database. Colonel Carter was also using Atlantis' deep space scanners to probe unknown empty systems and the outer fringes of the galaxy in hopes of finding indications of where the Skerti might be hiding.

Everyone was working very hard and there were many hands at the helm to assist, but so far there nothing new had been discovered that provided any clue as to where the Skerti were hiding. A number of the Military Council and Fleet Commanders had suggested that perhaps the Skerti Queen he had killed was a lone survivor, but Halling was not convinced, for the Skerti had told him plainly that her kind was returning. Considering that she had been about to kill him, there had been no reason for her to lie. Besides, Sitayi' prophecy had presumably not been about one single Skerti destroying the entire galaxy alone.

Patience and good research was all that was needed. Every warrior knew that intel took time and effort to obtain, and he was confident that something would be found soon enough.

Outside of this hard work, he was enjoying his afternoons with Oneakka. It was important to him to have time with his friend, who was still very weak and needed help, and just to see Oneakka alive and talking made Halling so grateful.

Though today he had delayed his start to sit with Oneakka, for once the news had gone round that Oneakka was awake, everyone who knew him was anxious to visit, not just to celebrate his survival, but because everyone knew that there was limited time before Oneakka reached his Cuddly Bear of Moor stage. Once the inevitable grump arrived, Oneakka would not be good company, so everyone was rushing to visit him over these last couple of days. The visits were all short and prearranged with Halling for the most part, and he had restricted the visiting hours to the morning and early afternoons, as any more would only exhaust Oneakka.

Today there had been twelve people scheduled to visit Oneakka, the last of which was Si. However, Halling knew that Si had been particularly looking forward to seeing Oneakka since having returned from Atlantis, so Halling had given them some extra time before arriving. The delay had also allowed Halling some extra sparring time with Jobrill after her visit to see Oneakka, and for him to visit the goat in the Hydroponics Bay.

Seeal had been keeping a close and concerned eye on the heavily pregnant goat, and had apparently forced the animal specialist to set up a permanent base in the Hydroponics Bay to care for the expectant mother. The animal specialist had been with the goat when Halling had visited and it had been very obvious that the man was less than thrilled at his full time temporary assignment. The goat for her part seemed very happy, but was huge. Halling had no idea how an animal could move around, even slowly, with such a massive belly that was full of clearly kicking baby goats. The specialist had repeated what Seeal had already told Halling, that it wasn't clear how long the goat would carry her young as the hybrid species had not been studied. Still, the specialist was happy the goat was fine and that the young could be born any day now.

The goat visit complete and a small amount of appeasement supplied towards the resentful animal specialist, Halling proceeded on to sit with Oneakka.

As he turned into the main hallway towards the Surgical Healing Bay, he noticed there were a lot of Recruits waiting outside the minor injuries entrance. The Facility was back to its usual routines following the crisis situation with the rogue Hive ship, so the Recruits were back to their classes and training. That inevitably led to an increase in sprains, bruised delicate body parts, and broken bones. However, he could see an unusually increased number of Recruits lined up, all male and all holding ice packs to various parts of them. He suspected there had been a significant fight among them, which wasn't unusual here, but clearly had involved a large group. He would have to ask Massa later, as he would know the gossip by then.

Moving quickly through the halls of the Surgical Bay, he checked his pad for the latest report due from Silvar, but it had not yet arrived. Silvar's team was removing the outer casing of the Skerti Drive today, so the report would be very interesting indeed. With one last check of his text link messages, Halling signed off rotation and tucked the pad under his arm as he turned into Oneakka's room.

To find that Teyla was visiting Oneakka, sat comfortably at his bedside.

"Halling," Teyla smiled brightly as he entered. He had spoken with her over link yesterday but had not seen her since her return from Atlantis. Considering the political weight upon Torren at present, she had decided to stay on Athos yesterday.

"Teyla," he grinned as he set his pad down quickly and reached for her as she headed towards him.

Their hands settled on each other's shoulders with practiced ease and he leant his forehead against hers. She felt strong and warm as he lifted his head and gently squeezed her shoulders.

"It is so good to see you," he told her happily. She looked very well, her face bright and she appeared the most relaxed he had seen her in a long time. He felt desperately grateful that she held no grudge against him for him having withheld his information about Sitayi' prophecy, as well as his former less-than-positive attitude towards her relationship with Major Sheppard.

"Are you well, Halling?" Teyla asked as they released each other's shoulders.

"I am," he confirmed for her, though noticed that her eyes were taking in his almost healed facial scratches from the Skerti Queen.

"Good," she replied with a smile and turned back towards Oneakka. "I have been telling Oneakka the entire story of what happened in Atlantis, ensuring it is in great detail so that it will take many days to tell."

"Detail is important," Oneakka replied with a faint smile. Laid almost flat, Oneakka's head and upper shoulders were resting on a layer of pillows, but it was very obvious to Halling that his friend was feeling very tired.

"Of course," Teyla agreed with Oneakka's assessment, though they all knew that the slow telling of her tale was also to help entertain Oneakka over these difficult days of discomfort.

Teyla reached out and took Oneakka's hand in both of hers. "I will leave you to sleep," she smiled kindly, "and I will return tomorrow and continue from where we left off."

"The parrot," Oneakka supplied.

"Parrot?" Halling frowned. Why had they been talking about birds?

"Indeed," Teyla smiled back and leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Oneakka's forehead. "I shall see you tomorrow," she promised him and then turned to Halling. "I will send you my schedule, Halling. Please add me to the rota wherever you feel best going forward."

"I don't need constant watching," Oneakka objected with a faint lisp that told Halling that his friend was now likely to fall asleep the second Teyla was gone.

"Are you saying that we bore you?" Teyla challenged him but there was a clear teasing tone to her voice. She looked so much happier today it was almost shocking.

"You're alright," Oneakka admitted.

"Good," Teyla smiled at him before releasing his hand and moving away. "Make sure you rest," she added with a more authoritative tone.

"Is that your wife-ly tone you use to boss Sheppard around?" Oneakka asked sleepily.

Halling chuckled as he squeezed Teyla's offered hand as she passed by him. "Are you returning to Athos now?"

"I have a short meeting with Edfu and then will confer with Jobrill once she's out of the Military Council meeting, but then yes. Are you free for midday meal tomorrow?"

"I am," Halling agreed readily. "Shall I meet you in the canteen?"

"I look forward to it," she smiled before returning her attention to the patient. "_Rest_," she repeated her order to Oneakka.

"Poor Sheppard," Oneakka replied as retaliation just before Teyla left, not allowing her the chance to respond.

Halling moved around the end of Oneakka's bed to his usual chair by Oneakka's left shoulder and noticed that the side table had accumulated a small stack of books – the gift of choice for Oneakka – and his main Facility computer pad was here.

"Ah, you already have your pad," Halling remarked. "I looked for it in your quarters." It was still far too soon for Oneakka to start reading messages and reports, as he was only just able to hold a cup, but within days Oneakka would be growing frustrated and the distraction would be welcome.

"Seeal brought it for me last night," Oneakka reported with a faint grunt as he worked to shift his body slightly in the bed. Halling could see now that the layer of pillows behind Oneakka's head were crushed and one was spilling out, and that the angle of Oneakka's neck no longer looked comfortable.

"Do you want to adjust your pillows?" Halling checked. Oneakka tended to pretend he was comfortable with visitors, but was usually more honest with him.

"Just need to shift down the bed a bit," Oneakka grunted as he tried to move himself, but he was too weak to do so alone.

"Here," Halling slid his whole arm under Oneakka's upper back. Oneakka took the offer of physical assistance willingly and, between them, they shifted him a few inches down the bed, and Halling puffed up the pillows and rearranged them into a supportive arrangement for his friend.

They had both seen each other through numerous injuries and recoveries, and had the procedure down to an easy wordless routine between them. They had stayed with each other through painful bone resets, through the agony of the first steps after serious injury, and helped each other shower and dress when too weak to do so themselves. Halling knew he was one of only a small handful of friends that Oneakka would allow to see him so weak and in need, and that he trusted to help him without embarrassment.

Today's latest assistance completed, Oneakka finally relaxed against the pillows, though was noticeably a little out of breath, which was no doubt due to the activity and the triggering of some pain in his wound. Halling made no comment and instead focused on straightening Oneakka's blankets and ensuring he was warmly covered.

As Halling secured the side of the blankets down under the edge of the bed's mattress, Oneakka finally let out a long more relaxed breath, the wave of pain clearly subsiding.

Halling patted his hand on Oneakka's chest and then reached for Oneakka's pad as he sat down in his chair. "Did Seeal check your text link messages for you?" He asked.

"She's not authorised to see Elite level messages," Oneakka replied, his voice still a little tight.

"Of course," Halling shook his head. He was a little surprised at himself for having forgotten that obvious fact. It was probably due to how closely he had been working with Seeal lately, not just in caring for Oneakka, but she had been assisting with his Skerti project. She had been helping him create a reproduction of their battle against the Skerti Queen, but she had also suggested looking through the Dreamstation database she had supplied to the Elite. The Dreamstation logs included ten years of scan data of the station's star system and neighbouring sectors, so it was possible there was something useful hidden within it all.

Halling was a little concerned about Seeal though, as she continued to work all the hours she was awake. If she was not undertaking her usual full time project work, she was assisting the Skerti research, watching over the goat, and then giving five hours of her evenings to sitting with Oneakka. She was looking tired to Halling's eye, but she had again turned down his suggestion that she remove herself from Oneakka's vigil rota for a few days.

Though, now Oneakka was awake and fast approaching the difficult and grumpy stages of his long recovery, Halling needed to be sure that Oneakka would actually welcome her remaining part of the rota. Though Oneakka was willing to show weakness and ask for help from Halling and a few select friends, Halling was not so sure that Oneakka would do the same when Seeal was with him.

And then there was the _other_ conversation Halling had been considering bringing up with Oneakka about Seeal.

Considering whether the timing was right for the discussions, Halling held the computer pad close to Oneakka's left wrist, allowing the pad to pick up Oneakka's personal beacon and activate. Sitting back in his chair, Halling laid the pad on his lap to allow the computer time to sync with the Facility's main computer after having been off for so many days, and considered his friend. The trick with Oneakka was to bring up difficult issues directly but as non-confrontationally as possible, which was always a difficult balance to find.

"I need to talk to you about Seeal," Halling started.

Oneakka snapped his head round. "What has she done?" He demanded worriedly.

"Besides help save both our lives, _nothing_," Halling replied calmly.

Oneakka glanced away with a clear sigh of relief. Halling noticed that one of Oneakka's eyes blinked before the other as he fought the effects of medication and his body's demands to sleep. This was either the wrong time to bring up this subject or, possibly, the perfect time to do so.

"Are you happy for her to stay on the rota to sit with you?" Halling asked first.

Oneakka gave a faint shrug against his pillows. "I don't mind."

Though that hardly sounded like an overly positive affirmation, it had still been a 'yes' from Oneakka.

"Very well," Halling smiled with a glance down at the pad; it looked like it had completed its sync and was displaying plenty of message alerts, but he returned his attention to Oneakka.

Keeping his tone neutral and as conversational as possible, Halling asked his second, and far more sensitive, question. "Is there anything else regarding Seeal that you would like to talk about?"

There was a faint pause as Oneakka's medicated mind took an extra second to process the question.

Oneakka's eyes slid to Halling, but that was all that moved, so that Oneakka's sharp blue irises were looking out of the corner of his eyes.

"No," Oneakka stated firmly.

Up until now, though Halling had begun to believe that Massa's theory about Oneakka's feelings towards Seeal, there had been no actual confirmation. Though Halling had witnessed Oneakka's gentle touch to the strands of Seeal's hair while he had lain dying on the Hive floor, it was possible it could have been explained by Oneakka's mental state at the time. He might have been hallucinating due to blood loss, or simply completely unaware of what was going on around him.

However, with one look and a firm one word answer to a very open question, Halling now received all the confirmation he needed.

Massa had been correct.

Halling was almost shocked at the reality of it, as Oneakka had clearly understood the subtext of his question. For Oneakka, that was a quite an unusual level of awareness of a subject that was all about "stupid emotional distractions", as he had once described relationships. Instead, Oneakka was clearly aware of all the further questions Halling might have and was now looking at Halling with a glare that could only be described as 'very threatening'.

Even weakened, drugged, and unable to fight, Oneakka's warning glare was still very powerful. With his head shaved and the newly healing jagged wound running down his scalp, Oneakka looked even more menacing than usual. His look was very clear – this was a subject he did not want to discuss _at all_.

"Very well," Halling immediately agreed. "I will not ask about it again," he promised.

Oneakka returned his blue gaze up towards the ceiling, but it was obvious to Halling that he was tensed up again.

"But if you do ever wish to talk about it-" Halling felt he had to add; after all it seemed important to leave the door open for Oneakka to discuss the subject in the future.

Oneakka's eyes shifted back to him and then dropped to the pad on Halling's lap. "Any important messages?"

"Many, I am sure," Halling accepted the abrupt change of subject and clear resolve.

That was fine, at least Halling knew for sure now.

He picked up Oneakka's pad and pulled up the, indeed, long list of text link messages that Oneakka had received over the last week. Scrolling down to the first received, he would start there and work his way up to the present.

"There are a great deal of technical Elite-wide broadcasts," he explained, "but your first personal message is from Madesh on the day you awoke."

Halling settled back further in his chair and started reading the message out loud for Oneakka.

After the third message, Oneakka had started to relax again, his cheek against his pillow as he listed. By the end of the fourth message, Oneakka's eyes had drifted shut.

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TBC


	10. A Good Thing

**DAY 7 – Discussions **

**Chapter 10 – A Good Thing**

He had been very careful in his selection of where to meet.

It needed to be somewhere completely out of view, accessible via tunnels from various directions, easily controllable, and a place where his 'visitors' would feel comfortable meeting together.

In the end, Kolya had decided on a large room just off the bunker complex where they'd held Sheppard. The series of deep chambers were relatively unknown, but being directly under a busy quarter of First City would mean his guests would feel relatively safe.

It had taken almost an hour for all the many parties to start arriving, none of them wanting to be the first or the last to arrive. Each drug clan had sent their own spies and scouts days before to check the bunker and meeting room, each of which had been carefully monitored from a distance by Kolya's most trusted. The scouts had seen only an old and forgotten Military bunker with multiple access and escape points via the tunnels. There was not a single piece of tech in the old chambers, nothing to worry them.

Now the meeting day had arrived, Kolya had made sure he was here well ahead of the scheduled time and had sat patiently in the meeting room with only Kakos at his side and a single guard stationed at each of the two entrances into the room. It was important that he appear open and approachable, and seemingly vulnerable, as his guests arrived. Of course there were plenty of other guards stationed down the tunnels in concealed sections, ready for deployment if required.

He'd even gone to the trouble of having plans of the Genii surface cities drawn up with the new agreed clan territories outlined in various colours. The hologram turned slowly above the table, its small generator the only piece of tech in the room. So far the guests had each kept to the terms of the meeting – no weapons and no tech. Kolya's guards scanned and patted down each visitor as they arrived and, so far, no one had attempted to conceal anything.

Now almost an hour after the intended start-time for this meeting, the final guest had arrived. Fortum; it was no surprise to Kolya that he was last to arrive. Leader of the largest and most aggressive drug clan on the homeworld, Fortum had been particularly useful in helping destabilise Cowen's rule of Second City in the former Supreme Leader's final days.

Fortum, like most of the other clan leaders surrounding the large meeting table, now dealt primarily in Quantum, but also dabbled in anything addictive that his 'clients' might look to purchase. All the clans had expanded their empires tenfold thanks to Kolya's steady supply of large quantities of the latest generations of Quantum, and in return all of them had helped create various public disturbances, whispered stories about how Cowen had betrayed and illegally imprisoned Kolya, and had started small civil disobediences that had helped rock Cowen's grip on power. He'd helped all of them grow rich, but, after Cowen's defeat, the clans had also been promised further rewards, and today's meeting would finalise those agreements.

All watched as Fortum was patted down by Kolya's guard and, clear of any weapons, the final clan leader was waved to the last seat available at the head of the table opposite Kolya. Fortum sidled into the room by himself, going without any 'assistant' like the others, bringing with him only his cocky smirk and a mountain's worth of ego. Fortum reached his chair, swung it round and straddled it. Kolya watched the display silently and patiently.

"Now that we are all here," Kolya began.

"Gotta be careful no one was following us," Fortum interrupted.

"Very wise," Kolya smiled at him, ignoring the muttered complaints from Fortum's competitors. They had all grudgingly cooperated under Kolya's direction for the overthrow of Cowen, but now that common ground was lost, they would soon be warring with each other again.

"As per our agreements," Kolya continued, "I have drawn up your new individual territories." He gestured to the turning hologram barely a metre from him, which cycled through each of the five cities, all the territory borders outlined brightly.

All eyes moved up to the display, except Fortum who picked at his teeth.

"It's not acceptable," Fortum stated without even glancing at the hologram.

"Let me guess," another clan leader responded. "You want a bigger territory, Fortum."

Fortum laid both his thin forearms along the back of his chair. "My people took the greatest risk."

"Lies," someone objected angrily.

"You will all receive what we formerly agreed," Kolya replied calmly to Fortum.

"Well no one had said anything about burning down an Enforcement building at the start of our agreement," Fortum argued.

"Setting fire to a wooden building, that sounded difficult," someone muttered.

"It wasn't wooden," Fortum turned his sharp-featured face towards his known enemy. "My people risked discovery."

"You were in Second City," another replied. "We, here in First City, took a far higher risk working right under Cowen's nose."

"No one did the damage we did," Fortum replied all too pleased with his clearly well rehearsed arguments. "So, I want all of Second City, not just the piddly middle of it."

Hardly a surprise.

"Really?" Kolya asked calmly.

"Yeah, or maybe some of those fancy Alliance newsfeeds might want to hear how you turned yourself into one of the biggest Quantum manufacturers in the galaxy," Fortum threatened.

Kolya chose not to correct Fortum. He had never manufactured Quantum, just put manufacturers together with dealers and transporters, while ensuring he received a good fee and cooperation for boosting so many in the drug industry. Of course none of these idiots had probably even considered how he had ended up so well placed, and where the former powerful middle men had gone.

"What about all of the Sixth City?" Kolya suggested and all eyes turned to him.

"There is no Sixth City," Fortum explained the obvious.

"I have just authorised its initial foundations," Kolya explained. "It will be out on the old plains on the marsh edges. With some lost trading within the Alliance, it is important that our people begin once again to grow all of our own food and manufacture all our own goods, and Sixth City will focus on that endeavour. And, if you agree to keeping what you were promised in Second City, you can have exclusive rights to the whole of Sixth City."

Kolya watched Fortum's eyes shifting, his brain picturing the fortune that could provide him.

"It'll be a start," Fortum agreed ungratefully.

"Why does he get an entire city?" Someone else objected heatedly.

This was getting boring.

"Sixth City will just be the beginning and you will all have new opportunities very soon," Kolya informed them.

They were all, by their very natures, types who objected to any form of control but it was their own greed that controlled them. However, they were all still Genii and they all understood the tactical and monetary advantage Kolya had provided for them. Working with him had been their saving graces, bringing them fast wealth and concealment from Cowen's justice. They all believed that, without their assistance, he would have struggled in his rise to power, and each clan would look to remind him of that fact repeatedly going forward.

"And if we don't want to wait for further 'opportunities'?" Fortum asked, but his tone implied it was a simple a show of resistance and he was actually pleased with the offer of Sixth City's future territory.

Kakos shifted pointedly in his seat, which probably looked like a threat to Fortum's question, but was actually a prearranged signal to Kolya that the surrounding area and tunnels had been thoroughly checked for clan spies and possible reinforcements.

Kolya smiled at his audience.

He reached forward to the holographic display device and tapped two buttons. The first button shifted the hologram to an overview of the Genii homeworld, the planet turning slowly.

The second button released the gas.

Kolya sat back as all eyes lifted to the turning planetary display. "This world, our world, is going to become the strongest it has ever become gentleman," he explained, "and lady," he added to the one single female clan leader present.

Someone coughed slightly.

"The Genii will become the forefront of military skill and perfection again," Kolya crossed one leg over the other and watched the glorious beauty of the homeworld turn.

Someone else coughed a little harder.

"We will become a force of dedication and might," Kolya stated happily. "And there will be no place for anything as polluting as Quantum or your other dirty substances."

Eyes all turned back to him.

Fortum suddenly spluttered loudly.

The man on Kolya's immediate right collapsed off his chair to the floor, others quickly following as the air filled with a loud cacophony of raking coughs and gasps for breath.

At the far end of the table, and furthest from the gas released, Fortum was able to stumble up from his chair and turn, gasping, towards the nearby exit. Kolya's guards filled the doorway though, all fully immunised against the deadly gas.

Kolya rose from his seat and moved around the table, watching as Fortum's legs finally gave out and he dropped to the floor, but he was still trying to reach the blocked doorway out.

Stepping over the dead, Kolya watched Fortum grab at his own throat as he tried to breathe.

"I am sorry, Fortum, that you decided to turn away from the military life and focus on this disgusting business," Kolya stated. "You served the homeworld well during your youth, and you were very helpful in my rise to power, so I do regret having to do this."

Fortum gasped loudly, his mouth hanging open as he stared up at Kolya, his lips and face turning blue.

"But there is no place for you now," Kolya continued as Fortum's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto his back, arms and legs spread wide.

"The Confederation will be cleansed of Quantum and our people saved from your addictions," Kolya concluded to the dead body.

The deed was done.

Kakos shifted into Kolya's view. "I have a link message from Commander General Reed, he says that our Military Councillor is on link for you."

"Tell Reed I will be returning to the Palace now and will take the link there," Kolya replied.

Kakos nodded instantly.

"And Kakos," Kolya added, "ask the kitchens to make those spiced dumplings for late meal when the Councillor returns."

"Yes, Supreme Leader," Kakos replied as he tapped away on his pad.

"Commander?" Kolya called to the lead guard who had led this off-the-books mission.

"Yes, Supreme Leader?" The woman asked, her face a long familiar one from his old strike force.

"Clear up this mess for us," Kolya requested as he strode through the doorway and into the tunnel that would provide the quickest route up to the surface.

"Immediately," the Commander confirmed. He knew she would ensure that no trace would be found of the bodies. The clans' leadership would now be thrown into inevitable chaos, but that wouldn't matter, for Kolya already had his security forces bearing down on the clans.

Later today he would publically announce a crackdown on all illegal substance dealers and offer free treatment to any who had been unfortunate enough to be poisoned by the clans. His people would celebrate his swift victory over the dealers and thank him for his actions in cleaning the cities.

His first week in power was going rather well.

00000

Everything was fine. She was keeping nice and busy, with absolutely no wasted time at all. From waking up to going to bed, Seeal filled every minute of her day.

The project work filled her mornings and afternoons, which were rather frustrated long hours in which the entire team all sat around brain-storming why the small test program still refused to work. She'd given up being annoyed about the program and instead, while the others fruitlessly debated and argued back and forth, she'd been running researches through Dreamstation's scan data. The extra work helping out Halling filled any bored moments, well, looking through ten years' worth of the station's scans wasn't exactly thrilling, but it at least filled time.

Kept her from thinking about a certain male all the time.

During her midday meal breaks from the project, she usually took her meal to the Hydroponics Bay to sit with the still heavily pregnant goat. After that, she'd head back to the project room for her afternoons, after which she'd race for another visit to the goat and a quick late meal before finally heading to sit at Oneakka's bedside.

Her evening shifts were the _only_ time each day that she spent with him.

It was important that she keep to just that set time and, so far, she'd been able to do it.

He was pretty easy to look after actually, though Halling kept insisting it wouldn't last much longer. For now, Oneakka did little more than lay still, occasionally ask for some water, and listen to her retelling of what had happened after she and Inifee had left him and Halling on the rogue Hive. She'd stretched out the retelling to fill the hours, which had actually been rather easy as Oneakka kept drifting to sleep. During his naps, she'd return her attention to her project work or Dream's scan history, and then, when Oneakka woke with a start, she'd simply continue her story from where she'd left off.

It had been working well – when he slept, she worked, and when he was awake, she just plain talked at him.

Because he was her _friend_ and the poor man was clearly weak and uncomfortable.

She owed him and this was what _friends_ did for each other when they were hurt.

Admittedly, it was a little difficult to find the emotional distance at times. She far preferred it when he was all argumentative and difficult – that was an Oneakka she could easily deal with and keep in place. The whole soft, and slightly forlorn, sleepy long blinks he did were a little too endearing and she kept feeling the worrying compulsion to stroke his hair! Not that he had any hair now thanks to them having shaved it all off, but she'd noticed it was slowly starting to slightly grow through. Maybe wanting to reach out and touch him was just some instinctive thing because she was pleased he was alive. Halling and Massa touched Oneakka's hands and arms and even patted him on the chest a lot, but she didn't feel she had that kind of physical closeness with him. In fact, it was important that she didn't.

There was a clear line to keep to, and though some certain silly feelings had rushed over that boundary for a bit, she was determined to drag them back over the line. She'd help Oneakka with his recovery, then, once he was better, he'd head off again on the Sythus to his dangerous life, and she would be able to return to normal life here.

She wasn't sure what she was actually thinking was 'normal' for her, but it was a distant promise that she was clinging to right now.

Once he was well again, he'd be back to his difficult, stubborn, idiocy and she could focus on her work. Then, once the Elite's computer project was finished, she'd be on her way somewhere else anyway. That was her future, and she kept reminding herself of it when her fingers itched to run a soothing hand over his forehead.

She could at least pay soothing attention to the goat, and she was making sure that the creature got the appropriate care while Oneakka was bedbound. The Bay Gardener, Neligan, who had been assigned to look after the goat when she'd arrived in the Facility, was very helpful. He seemed happy to supply her with text link updates on the goat throughout the day, and even attached an occasional picture of the goat for her.

However, the animal specialist was not as easy to deal with and was rather uncommunicative. She'd had to pester him with questions to get anything useful out of him, and had to repeatedly remind him that it was his _job_ to keep a close careful eye on the goat. Just because there wasn't any research on the part-wild/part-domestic Belkan goat's particular hybrid breed, didn't mean he could do less – it meant he should be _more_ attentive and ready for anything to go wrong.

Newly irritated by thinking about the animal specialist, she stomped across her tiny quarters to pick up a clean top and pulled it on. After a hurried late meal this evening, she'd come back here to shower and put on some fresh clothes before heading to Oneakka. Being stuck in the tense and packed project room all day, and crawling around the grass with the goat, did not leave her feeling all that fresh.

Boots on, a portable cup of fresh Athosian tea ready, and her computer pad in hand, she was ready to go. She was a little early, but she might as well go now. Halling had said something like twelve people had been scheduled in to visit Oneakka earlier today, but he'd messaged her again later that Madesh and a visitor from a military station were late bookings to see Oneakka this afternoon. Seeal knew Madesh had already seen Oneakka, so it was likely that Oneakka was by himself now, so she could turn up early.

Before she left though, she typed a quick text link to Neligan in the Bay, telling him that she was going to be in the Surgical Healing Bay for the rest of the evening should the goat go into labour. That complete, she collected up what she needed, and headed out into the corridors of the Facility.

The place had returned to its more usual busyness following the rogue Hive crisis, and, as it was still only early evening, a lot of Recruits and Elite were clearly heading to the gyms. The main Healing Bay entrance was already noticeably busy as she passed by it, and, as she turned into the Surgical Bay, her pad vibrated with a return message from Neligan. He reported the goat was fine and had attached a picture of the goat settled on a thick bed of dried grass within her hut. The expectant mother appeared contented enough, so it looked like tonight wasn't going to be the night the goat younglings arrived. Neligan promised to keep a close eye on the goat and to let her know the second anything happened.

Good, she could relax this evening. She expected Oneakka would be especially sleepy after all his visitors today, so she'd probably get some more Dream scan searches sorted. And for when he was awake, she had put together a selection on her pad of the Earth music he'd given her. Her heavily detailed telling of the rogue Hive had pretty much concluded last night, so the music would give her a talking point with Oneakka.

Heading through the hallways of the Healing Bay with practiced familiarity, she turned into the corridor leading to Oneakka's room. As she approached his door, she checked through her text links one last time, glancing up to peer through the start of the wide window into Oneakka's room.

Seeal pulled up sharply.

There was a woman in there with him.

And she was definitely not an Elite warrior.

Seeal swiftly took two long steps backwards so she was quickly out of view, but then peered forward just enough to see round the edge of the window.

The woman was stood on the far side of Oneakka's bed, leaning down over him and smiling widely.

And she was holding his hand.

Up on top of his chest.

Like he was holding her hand close to his heart.

Seeal quickly shifted her eyes to his face, which, though turned mostly away from her, she could see enough of his profile to see that he was smiling up at the woman.

Seeal's heart pounded hard in her chest.

She didn't need to be the expert in body language that she was to tell that the two knew each other intimately.

Seeal switched her gaze to the woman's profile, but she couldn't see all of her face due to the thick golden hair that surrounded the woman's head and shoulders like a mane. With even a tiny movement, the curls all danced lightly around the woman's shoulders. Shoulders that were dressed in a dark red dress. The dress was definitely not military standard issue; it clung to the woman's curvy figure and the neckline looked like it was pretty low. The angle at which the woman was leaning down to Oneakka would no doubt provide him with an eyeful, which was probably the intention.

The woman laughed lightly, the sound somehow deep and light at the same time as it floated out through the open door, and Seeal watched as the female's mouth headed down towards Oneakka.

Seeal looked away.

She'd been so stupid.

Of course Oneakka would have a female.

Looking the way he did – all handsome, muscular, and all heroic – he'd have his pick of females. She had just assumed that his whole gruff attitude about things and single-minded focus on being an Elite meant that...

Suddenly everything seemed to shift in perception for her.

Oneakka hadn't mentioned his female to her, hadn't even vaguely hinted at her. The woman clearly didn't live here in the Facility, so Oneakka would be visiting her when he chose. He could have been leaving the Facility every day to visit her for all Seeal knew. It wasn't like he was the most open of males about feelings and things.

Was that why he hadn't mentioned his lover? Because he kept things private, or was it that he didn't consider Seeal _that_ close of a friend. Maybe she had been seeing their friendship as closer than it really was?

In the room, the woman was standing up from having kissed Oneakka, her golden curls dancing around her shoulders again. Seeal watched as one long elegant arm reached out and the woman ran her hand over Oneakka's head. Seeal frowned, hoping the woman was being careful not to touch his still healing scalp wound.

She should have known. So much for her skills of reading people!

Of course Oneakka would have a lover. How could he not?

Glancing away from the display inside the room, she made herself take a breath.

This was actually a good thing. She'd wanted emotional distance and here it was. She hadn't wanted the stupid feelings anyway.

If only her heart would stop banging loudly against the inside of her ribs.

This was a _good_ thing.

Glancing back into the room, she saw that the woman was leaving, moving around the end of Oneakka's bed and would be looking this way any second.

Taking a long stride backwards to take her back out of view of the window, Seeal froze. Should she head back down the corridor? Move into another room and wait until the woman left? Or-

The woman abruptly strode out of Oneakka's door, not looking where she was going and Seeal had only a second to pull her tea aside before the woman collided with her.

"Oh!" The woman exclaimed as she pulled up quickly. "I am _so_ sorry, I-" she started to explain, only to stop and her eyes narrowed at Seeal.

Seeal held her ground, holding the woman's suddenly assessing stare.

"You would be Seeal?" The woman asked.

Seeal hadn't expected that, and it clearly ruined her preferred option of having just been an innocent passerby in the corridor. Well, the option was gone, but she wasn't about to just go lying and sneaking away.

"I must be," Seeal replied firmly.

The woman smiled, which was a slightly surprising response. "Oneakka has mentioned you to me," she reported.

It wasn't lost on Seeal that the woman hadn't used Oneakka's official title of 'Honoured Elite', which had presumably been on purpose to make a point.

"I am Pampata," the woman added, as if that was any explanation.

"He hasn't mentioned you," Seeal found herself instantly replying as she considered the woman.

Pampata was considerably shorter than her, but the hair added a few extra inches and there was something about the woman that made her seem larger.

Seeal knew this type of female; there had been plenty of them working on the lower levels of Dream. Women who seemed to naturally ooze sex, being so at home in the sensuous nature of their bodies that they moved differently to others.

Pampata had wide shoulders and wide hips, with a narrower waist so that she had an overly emphasised curved feminine outline. The dress' neckline was as low as Seeal had suspected, and it was obvious that the woman's breasts were assisted upwards to have that height and shape. Above the plump cleavage, Pampata's eyes seemed about twice the size of an average woman's, and her lips seemed dark red without any obvious colour having been applied to them. Yes, she was a familiar breed to Seeal.

Seeal had never minded these types of women before – she had no issue with those who wielded sexual power. If you naturally had that kind of influence, why not use it to your advantage? The women on Dream had certainly used it and used it effectively. Seeal's job had been to make sure they were protected from violence and overly obsessive males.

However, she'd never felt quite so self-conscious around such a woman before; she felt rather lanky and muscular in comparison to Pampata's soft, petite curvaceousness.

Well, she had her own powers, all of which told her that Pampata was very curious about her in turn.

Seeal realised that they'd not said anything for a bit.

She wasn't entirely sure what she should say though.

"I'm not surprised he hasn't mentioned me to you," Pampata picked up the former discussion. "We both know what he's like."

"I wouldn't know what he's like," Seeal returned quickly. "I'm just here to check on him."

"Of course," Pampata replied while noticeably straightening her expression.

Seeal frowned at the clear sign that Pampata was finding this amusing. Surely that wasn't the right response. Was it a power play of some kind?

"Do you live in the Facility?" Seeal asked, knowing that wasn't the case.

"Oh, no," Pampata replied instantly, all casual and relaxed. Seeal sent the order to her own shoulders to relax a bit.

"I have rarely visited this place before," Pampata added. "I live and work on Mil Hub. Do you enjoy living here, Seeal?"

It seemed an attempt to start a conversation...or was she trying to find out something?

"It has its good points," Seeal replied simply.

Pampata nodded, her eyes doing that intense study again, like Seeal was some new form of foliage she'd found while out walking.

Except...perhaps Pampata had a right to find out about her. Pampata was Oneakka's lover after all, perhaps even a life-long partner for all Seeal knew.

Which meant that _she_ was the outside here, not Pampata.

Perhaps also a threat?

But, of course, there was no threat here.

She was more than happy that Oneakka had a female; it made everything easier.

Maybe he had loads of them.

Seeal forced herself to smile at Pampata. "Did you want to sit with him for longer? I can come back later," she offered, working hard not to say it through the gritted teeth of her fake feeling smile.

Pampata blinked her ridiculously long and perfectly curled eyelashes. "No, it was just a quick visit to see him before he becomes unmanageable," she pulled a face that was intended to include Seeal in the joke of their mutual knowledge of how Oneakka could be.

"Yes, Honoured Elite Halling mentioned he would become more difficult," Seeal replied, for some reason not wanting to play along with the 'don't we both know Oneakka so well' front.

"Cuddly Bears of Moor," Pampata nodded knowingly.

Seeal's stomach dropped. Had she stupidly thought herself unique in sharing in Oneakka's recovery?

"Good luck with the Bear," Pampata continued. "I won't be visiting the Facility again, so I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to meet you, Seeal."

It had seemed an honest statement, but then it was always important to check out one's threats and possible competition.

No, she wasn't any competition.

This was a good development.

"I'm sure you'll be allowed to visit him again if you want," Seeal told her, because it was important that Pampata see it wouldn't bother her.

"Halling says he will keep me updated and I'll stay in links contact with Oneakka," Pampata replied, not appearing upset at the prospect of not visiting. Seeal noted that she'd not used Halling's title either, which would make sense. As Oneakka's lover, she would of course be friendly with Oneakka's closest friend and brother-in-arms.

Seeal realised that Halling hadn't mentioned Pampata to her either, nor had Massa. Was that because they didn't think she had a right to know?

She probably didn't.

This was a good thing.

Silence settled oddly in the corridor, the two of them watching each other.

Seeal wasn't sure what exactly to say or do now. She wasn't used to playing the less powerful one in a confrontation. She was far more used to being the one threatening some scum to behave themselves or warn someone not to start a fight with her.

Pampata didn't appear even slightly inclined to start a fight, even a verbal one, in fact the woman continued to look at Seeal like she was something newly fascinating to study.

Pampata abruptly grinned. "It was good to meet you, Seeal." It seemed a very honest conclusion that seemed to communicate that she clearly didn't see any threat here.

Good.

"Nice to meet you too," Seeal replied awkwardly.

"Take good care of him," Pampata added as she started moving forward around Seeal's shoulder and away.

That hadn't sounded like a threat or a demand, but rather an almost emotional request.

Seeal turned on the spot and watched the woman walk away down the hallway. As expected, Pampata's hips rolled dramatically from side to side as she floated down the corridor. Seeal kept her eyes on the woman, tracking her right up until Pampata's golden hair disappeared around the corner out of view.

This was a good thing.

It really was.

Seeal turned back towards Oneakka's doorway a couple of metres up from where she and Pampata had stood. He wouldn't have been able to see or hear the conversation, and suddenly it felt very important that she not mention it. It had just been a passing meeting, and if Oneakka was keeping Pampata private from her, well that was fine. He was a private man.

Which was a good thing.

Moving forward a couple of steps, she peered back into his room through the window. He was fast asleep, his head turned to the side, one pale cheek against his thick layer of pillows, and one hand slightly draped off the side of the bed.

She had desperately wanted to find emotional distance from him and here it was.

That line drawn between them had turned out to have a name: Pampata.

Or, perhaps, there was a chance that she had been misreading him before now. Maybe the attraction she had thought she'd felt between them had just been him being friendly. Or simply an acknowledgement of some respect and his just plain enjoying arguing with her about things?

That would be very him.

At least she knew now.

She headed forward, moving quietly into his room so not to wake him. She'd been able to drop things and talk to people without him waking the last couple of evenings, but she made sure now to move particularly quietly as she entered.

About to move around the bed to her customary chair by his left shoulder, she paused. It was stupid, but she didn't want to go sit on that side where Pampata had been, where she'd be able to smell that thick artificial scent that the woman had been wearing. So, instead Seeal moved to his right side and set her pad and tea down on the side table. She reached for the control for the small lamp this side of his bed and triggered it on, before stepping away to reach for the switch to turn off the bright overhead light. The room dropped into the usual lower evening light level and she headed back to his side, quietly settling down in the chair.

By sitting this side of him, his face was turned towards her as he slept, and she considered his softened handsome features. It was strange how one moment meeting a complete stranger could change so much.

And feel quite so painful.

Still, it was a helpful arrival, and now she could move forward without worrying about that line anymore. She wanted to just be his friend and now she had all the permission she needed to throw herself into that role.

No more confusion.

She knew where she stood, and that was always a good thing.

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TBC


	11. Sharing

**Note:** So here is the third chapter in a week! Since I didn't get time to post any chapters over Christmas and New Year, I thought I should push out these three together as they cover all of 'Day 7' in the story.

00000

**DAY 7 – Discussions **

**Chapter 11 - Sharing**

Winter had arrived on Athos in the mere week that Teyla had been away in Atlantis.

The ground had been ice hard as she'd walked up from the Portal on her return from the Facility, all the surrounding fields coated in a light layer of snow. Though these sharp winter months could be tough for those still living in the forest camps, Teyla still enjoyed the majestic beauty of her homeworld at this time of year.

As she'd walked up through Tjaru, the market stalls had already been packed away, and a larger than normal flock of songbirds had been nipping up the handfuls of grain that traders left out for them during these hard months. High above, the sky had been clear and cold, but there had been the distant suggestion of thick heavy clouds on the horizon. Teyla suspected there would be a heavy snowfall tonight.

She didn't believe that John had seen Athos in the thick of winter before, so she had started formulating a list of outdoor winter activities for him when his next visit was arranged. There were the nearby low hills where the snow gathered thickly and her people slid down the soft slopes on hide-covered sledges. There were the outdoor sporting competitions, snow sculpture displays, and it was always lovely to simply walk along the edges of the snow-coated fields. She would need to remind him to pack warm clothes for his stay.

When his visit did occur, she had also paved the way for his first visit to the Training Facility. John and Colonel Carter had both agreed that John could be fitted with an Elite personal beacon, and therefore its insertion would need to be undertaken at the Facility itself. So today, after visiting Oneakka, she had met with Edfu to discuss the arrangements for John's visit. The Healing Bay had already agreed to install the beacon, with the only requirement being that John had to remain in the Facility for a night after the procedure, as occasionally some people's bodies rejected the tiny implant. Fortunately, agreement was already been in place in the marriage contract that John could visit the Facility with her, and that, as she had in visiting Atlantis, John would be allowed to take only one of his people with him on the Facility visit.

Teyla was immensely grateful that John and his people had agreed to the implant, and once he had the beacon, she knew she would feel a little more comfortable. With that Elite tech, his position would be detectable anywhere in the Alliance, and, even outside the border, the frequency would be easy to trace. Colonel Carter's only stipulation had been that Atlantis receive details of the metal components that made up the beacon and that they could know the frequency used to track it. The agreement made and the way prepared in the Facility, she just had to wait now until he could visit.

Crunching up the faintly icy road to the Governing Complex, she let her mind turn, as she was doing regularly, over her well-recalled memories of her last days with John in Atlantis. As much as she enjoyed being back in the Alliance, she had been missing him greatly. So, the time it took to reach the Complex and the walk through the Complex's many hallways seemed to pass in moments, and she found herself at her quarters in no time at all. A little surprised at how distracted she had been, she entered her space and started pulling off her thick coat. Commotion from the next room told her that Ketra was in her quarters, which meant that Father and Zabetha were in official meetings.

Moving into her bedroom, Teyla saw Ketra bundle her way in through the open adjoining doorway from John's side of the quarters. Looking sleepy and a little disorientated, Ketra had clearly been asleep in there for some reason, and Teyla suspected she knew where.

"Have you been sleeping on John's bed?" Teyla asked bemusedly of her pet as she slid her hands over the dragon's warm face and down over her thick muscular shoulders. "You know you are not supposed to sleep on furniture," Teyla added, but she could not help herself from smiling at Ketra's wiggling rubbing up against her legs, always so pleased to see her. It had only been that Teyla had been sitting in the Healing Bay with Oneakka that had stopped her from taking Ketra with her, but she knew Ketra was well looked after here.

Moving to John's open door, Teyla peered into the dark room beyond. The light from her bedroom cast the mostly empty room with enough illumination for the disarray of the bed to be clear. Ketra had clearly been sleeping in here.

Frowning down at Ketra, Teyla knew she should tell off her pet, but she couldn't quite seem to make herself do it. Ketra, though at her full adult height now, was still filling out and she was a large creature. The mattress no doubt was far more comfortable for her than sleeping on the floor, and Teyla couldn't help understanding Ketra's decision. Maybe another solution was required; perhaps some form of specially built raised box for Ketra with a mattress of her own, or, maybe, she even needed her own room.

Drawing the adjoining door closed, but not all the way, Teyla headed back into her living room, noticing that a red light was flashing on her wall screen – she had messages waiting for her here.

She triggered the screen awake and a long list of messages appeared that had been sent to her specifically on Athos. The latest was from Halling confirming the slot he had given her to sit with Oneakka tomorrow. She smiled as she typed a very quick confirmation back to him. She had spent over an hour at Oneakka's side this morning and it had pleased her so much to see that he was already looking a little better. He was still heavily medicated and unable to move that much in his bed, but he had been able to hold a conversation and had asked her a surprising number of questions about Atlantis.

She was looking forward to continuing her tale of Atlantis tomorrow, though not so much her return to her shared duties in attending the Military Council as Elite representative. Jobrill had been covering the seat far longer than normal, with Nalla remaining on Lead duty on the docked Sythus while it was repaired, so it was Teyla's time again now. Nalla would take the next part of the rota once Si was free to take over as Lead Elite on the Sythus. It was less than thrilling work for Teyla, but it was vital and she was honoured to help represent her fellow Elite on the Council.

The response sent to Halling, she returned to the list of messages, the top now being one from Father. She opened it with a smile. As expected, he started by explaining that he and Zabetha were in legal focused meetings this evening. He then added that he had been in contact with Colonel Carter today and that the dates for John's visit to Athos had finally been organised. He would be staying for three days, arriving here in only three days time.

Joy burst up through her chest as she quickly pulled up the Governing Complex's diary system to see that, already, John's visit had been recorded. Which meant it would only be two more full days without seeing him. Then he would be spending his first official long stay with her here.

Which meant she could now organise John's stay in the Facility. She would need to contact Colonel Carter early tomorrow and see if a further day could be added to John's stay for the Facility visit, but she suspected the efficient female City Lead would already have it in mind following their previous conversations on the matter.

Turning back to Father's message, Teyla was about to type him a response, only to see that there was a further paragraph to his message in which he provided an attached text link message received from Atlantis. It was from John! He had sent her a letter when Father had spoken with Colonel Carter.

He had done this previously when Teyla had not been on Athos when Atlantis had dialled into the Portal, but he had not done so in awhile. Those previous messages had, of course, been about political matters and were usually a question for the Elite. Now though, now they were lovers once again, his message held a new burst of excitement for her.

Over the last month, the translations of written messages from Atlantis had improved greatly in clarity as Alliance and Atlantis language specialists had been improving the understanding of the different languages. So, the Complex's own translator would have already seen the letter to ensure the translation was clear, and John's own superiors would no doubt have read the message as well, which meant that this wasn't going to be a love letter. Still, she moved eagerly closer to the screen as the letter appeared.

"_Dear Honoured Wife_," it began. She grinned at his use of her title, which, although official and as it should be in such a letter, she could still hear John's amused playfulness in the opening.

"_Pleased to hear the date has been set for me to visit Athos. Looking forward to seeing Ketra and for us to discuss trading_," he wrote.

She chuckled at the innuendo that he had managed to conceal within a statement seemingly about the ongoing trade negotiations between Atlantis and the Elite.

"_And to also get the opportunity to check out the wedding gift_," he added. Again, to anyone reading it, such a comment could refer to any of the official gifts they had received following their Political Marriage, but only the two of them knew he referred to her large new bed in the next room.

"_In other news_," he added in the final paragraph, "_I was promoted today. Kind of a surprise, but I will take it. A lot of people thought I would not even make Captain, and now I am a Lieutenant Colonel_."

She leaned even closer to the screen as she reread his last sentence, pride filling her chest with warmth and delight. He more than deserved a promotion and she was so pleased that his people had acknowledged him. She was not entirely sure where the rank of 'Captain' was in relation to his new rank, or if this new promotion would change his duties in Atlantis, but soon enough she'd be able to ask him in person. She could hardly wait.

"_I hope things all quiet in the Alliance and that Oneakka is well_," he concluded, the translation remaining a little stilted for John's casual speech, but she could still hear his voice as she read them. "_See you in a couple of days. From Honoured Husband, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard_."

She laughed happily at him referring to himself as 'Honoured Husband' and then read his new rank several times through, committing it to memory so that she could tell Father and others accurately.

Then she reread the entire letter through again, more than once, before she had to admit that she was behaving like a youthful girl. With one last scan of his new rank, she finally closed his letter. She then called up a new text link message to send to Edfu to provisionally book John in for the beacon fitting. Once it was confirmed with Colonel Carter tomorrow, Teyla would then send a message to her fellow Elite, informing them that John would be staying in the Facility for a day and a night.

That stay would not only allow the implant fitting, but would also provide the opportunity for many of her fellow Elite to meet John. Though he knew her colleagues of the Sythus rather well now, there were considerably more Elite and it was important to her that John start meeting more of them. For, should a day come that something happened to her, it was important that John was established as trustworthy by more than just the Sythus' crew.

Her message to Edfu sent, she glanced through the last list of her text links, but none of them required any action. She turned off the screen and turned to consider her quarters and the two days until John would arrive; while purposefully ignoring the fact that Ketra had almost her entire body slumped on one of Teyla's sofas. Ketra's back legs and tail were still on the floor, which presumably provided the dragon with the belief that she was not technically all on the piece of furniture and thus breaking the rules. Teyla was definitely going to have to sort out a proper sleeping place for Ketra.

But, returning her mind to John, she headed towards the entrance to her bedroom and considered the wedding gift that was the bed. The bedding was old and comfortable and in no way unsightly, but Teyla decided that she would purchase some new sheets and covers in some pleasing colours for when he was to visit.

Then they would have new bedding for their new shared bed, for their new start together.

00000

Waking up was always painful now.

It wasn't because of the physical pain of his wound, or the overwhelming dull weight of the medication, it was losing the vividness of the recalled memories of seeing his family.

He couldn't remember their faces like he had before.

When he was awake, it was like looking for details through foggy glass. But when he was asleep, which was far too frequently, it all came back.

In his dreams, Oneakka could feel the Ugun sun on his face again, smell the fresh grass of the training field, and hear little Pema singing.

Before, he'd never have been able to remember the tune or the words of that old rhyme that Pema had used to sing over and over, but now the song played all through his dreams and he woke with the words turning through his mind.

Old memories drawn up from the depths of his consciousness.

That was _all_ it had been.

The dead didn't talk to you.

It had just been remembered moments and feelings from his infancy all mixed together into a narrative by his dying brain. That was all it had been.

Memories.

Why his mind had done that was a mystery to him, but he could understand that those vivid details of his family were buried somewhere in his brain. Maybe his mind had done it to help him keep fighting. Maybe it happened to everyone nearing the moment of death. According to Halling, his heart had stopped. He'd been near death before, but he'd never technically been dead before. It hadn't been for long, but maybe that was why.

Maybe synapses firing wildly, old trauma resurfacing.

He hadn't even known he could remember their faces so well. Recall the gentle weight of Father's hand on his shoulder, Pema's old rhyme...

All of it replayed in his dreams, but even those images were still somehow pale versions of what he'd experienced. Like a recording that had been cut up and then jumbled back together out of sequence and context.

The sight of his older brothers tumbling together across the field, his sisters' laughter, and Pema's song. The sound of Father's hammer striking the anvil.

Recalled sensations that were so old it was understandable that they still felt so strong.

Mother's smile.

A smile shouldn't have a sensation, but it did. Even awake he could faintly feel the sensation of it. It was probably because as a babe he'd have been in her arms so much, his entire universe his Mother's face and love. They were just strong formative memories.

A hallucination of broken memories his brain had made up for him.

He just wished he could forget.

Because each time he slept and relived what he could, when he started waking up, it felt like Mother dying again.

Each time he woke, he lost his family all over again.

It was excruciating.

Why couldn't he have just stayed in the field with them?

Never leave them again?

_No_! He didn't surrender to things like that. It was just that this was always the worst point: when he became aware of the dream and started waking up. He just needed to wake up properly.

He pushed hard to get away from the images and pain now, away from the haunting rhyme and the soft sensations of his family. As the dream started loosening its hold, he could feel his sense of self growing stronger as he started waking up, as he slowly separated himself from them.

They weren't real; it had just been a hallucination.

But his heart seemed to break apart as he struggled now to surface, back into the purity of only physical pain.

He opened his eyes to the dim light of the Healing Bay, the quiet of the room like a soft splash of relief. He blinked his eyes quickly, washing away any hint of tears in them, because he didn't know if anyone was watching him.

Except it was dark, with only a lone light shining from his far side. In the distance, he could hear the gentle patter of Bay staff walking down the corridors, a series of bleeps from another room, and in here there was a rather annoying buzzing from somewhere up beyond the head of his bed. One of his monitors. He remembered the sound had started earlier today. It was probably just a power cable slightly loose, because if the monitor had stopped working someone would have fixed it already.

Any other day, he would simply reach up himself and sort out the problem. Now though, just the thought of moving his body like that made him sweat. All he could move with any freedom that wouldn't trigger pain were his arms and his head. That said, his head and neck were hurting right now. He had his head rolled hard to his left and something in the side of his neck was really complaining.

Moving slowly, he got his head moving a little and realised that there was no one sat in the usual chair to his left.

The low lighting meant it was late - maybe very late – so he must have slept all through the evening. He'd had a lot of visitors today. The morning had been a sea of faces, then Emmagan, Halling. Madesh had been here and then Pampata had briefly visited. He wasn't sure he could remember anyone after that. He was sleeping so much that it all started to merge together.

He got his head moving, but the pain in the side of his neck wasn't going away, so he pushed his shoulder down and away from his ear to try and stretch out the complaining muscle. It helped ease the neck pain, but it turned out his left shoulder was really tight and the muscles threatened to spasm sharply. All this damn lying around did him no good at all.

He rolled his head round to the right to try and stretch a little further, only for Seeal to come into view sat on his right. She was sat almost slumped back in her chair, clearly having been there awhile, one of her knees up against the side of his bed and a large computer pad balanced up against her thigh. A low lamp was on beside him and it cast her as the brightest spot in the room.

Whisperer.

Since waking from his near death, each time he saw Halling or Seeal anew, he felt the greatest rush of gratitude and relief to see them. In the midst of his hallucination, their voices had kept him rooted and had called him back from the edge of death. If a tiny part of him regretted returning from there, the majority of him was deeply grateful to them for helping him back from that edge.

Seeal noticed him looking at her and smiled.

"Ahh, you're awake," she said as she leaned to one side and set her usual large portable cup on the side table. "You need anything?" She asked as she lowered her knee and sat up straighter in her chair so he could see her easier. "Water? A bucket to throw up in?"

"No," he replied with a frown at her; he'd never asked for a bucket. He was probably on some sort of drug to deal with any nausea anyway, in fact he vaguely remembered that was part of his medication plan.

"Pillows comfy?" She asked next.

He took a second to process her question and then assess the pillows under his head. His left shoulder and now part of his upper back were tight and uncomfortable, but that wasn't because of the pillows. Meiyo had suggested that he try and lay on his sides a little bit tomorrow, and clearly his body needed to start moving around some more.

"Pillows are fine," he reported.

"Anything else you need?" She asked next, seeming to be exceptionally helpful this evening.

He frowned at her. "What happened?" He asked.

She frowned in return. "What happened when?" She asked, but her expression had turned guarded, like she suspected he knew something. Had she started a riot again while he was asleep?

"You're being nice," he told her, "so you did something."

He felt like his mouth wasn't forming the words quite right, but it had sounded okay. He suspected he'd been given his latest dose of pain killers via the line in his arm while he had been asleep, because his brain felt a little slow and his lower belly was a distant thick discomfort rather than actual pain. It hadn't helped his shoulder, but presumably that had been because of how he'd been sleeping. If he could just stretch properly, it would be fine, but he was nervous to move too much and pull at his wound.

"I can be nice," Seeal objected. "And I didn't _do_ anything; don't be so rude."

He was a little surprised at the come back, but he was far more comfortable with the straightforward banter than any pitiful looks. He was already far too aware of how ridiculously weak and awful he felt. He didn't really want her to see him like this, but, at the same time, her company kind of helped. She was one of his whisperers after all.

"Can't tell me what to do," he replied.

"I just did," she returned quickly and rather smugly. "And considering that you were impaled by a Hive ship and can barely lift your own head, I think I'm the one with the upper hand right now."

"It wasn't a whole Hive ship," he corrected her.

"So your answer is a 'no' to needing anything?" She repeated her former question.

He could do with the tight, nearly spasming muscle in his left shoulder to settle down.

Actually there was something Raven could do to help.

"One of the monitors is buzzing," he gestured with his head up beyond the end of his bed. Her dark eyes shifted to the monitors immediately. "I think a power cable's loose," he explained, but she was already rising up out of her chair, putting her pad aside. "It's getting irritating," he added as she moved around the side table and disappeared from view.

"Easy enough," she replied as a series of noises sounded behind his head. She would be pushing power cables in tighter.

"Don't unplug any," he advised. "They'll rush in thinking I've died."

There was a faint snigger and a sound that was clearly her hand hitting the side of a monitor. He was about to tell her to be careful, but the buzzing had stopped.

He let out a relieved sigh, the returned quiet almost blissful.

"You're _welcome_," Seeal told him pointedly as she moved back into view.

"Thank you," he told her gratefully.

She paused and made a show of looking surprised at him thanking her, before she collected up her pad again and settled back into her chair.

She looked at him.

He looked back.

A strange sort of silence fell.

If she wanted him to make conversation, she was going to wait a long time. He could ask a question or answer things, but anything more than that was far too much effort for him right now. He was feeling pretty useless and vulnerable, and a teeny bit self-conscious about that fact. He couldn't even sort out a monitor's power cable without help.

He glanced away from her as he carefully rolled his left shoulder to try to prevent the cramping spasm that was still threatening.

"So," Seeal started talking again, "I hear you had a hundred visitors today."

"Not a hundred," he called her obvious exaggeration.

"How could you tell, you're floating on a high of medication," she noted.

"Definitely not floating," he corrected. It was actually more like feeling stuck in a thick sticky fog, where everything felt a bit difficult, and his body felt heavy and desperately uncomfortable.

He closed his eyes for a fraction, willing his shoulder to relax.

A tapping noise started up into the silence, and, with it, a faint vibration through the bed-frame. He glanced at Raven to see that she was idly tapping her fingers against the side of his bed.

She noticed him looking at her hand and her fingers froze. "Sorry," she apologised and pulled her hand back onto her lap.

He made his slightly foggy mind focus on her a little more closely. She looked uncomfortable.

Probably bored at having to sit at his bedside every evening.

A strange sense of embarrassment shifted through him. He was grateful for her being around, for being one of his whisperers, but that didn't necessarily mean _she_ wanted to be here.

Maybe she felt obligated or something.

He _really_ didn't like that thought.

"You don't have to be here," he told her.

Her eyes snapped to his, her expression freezing in a surprised frown. "You don't want me here?" She asked.

"If _you_ don't want to be here, you don't _have_ to be here," he tried to explain logically, which took far more effort than normal.

Her dark eyebrows rose up her forehead. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't _be_ here, Oneakka," she stated firmly. She was pronouncing his name correctly now, not that he had ever expected people to get the emphasis right on the sounds of his name. But, she had picked up on the right pronunciation when they'd been talking about the tapestry.

From his people.

The memories abruptly threatened to tear up through his chest from nowhere. Suddenly he rather wished she didn't know how to say his name correctly – pronounced just like his family and his people had done.

"Unless," Seeal cut into his wayward emotional response, "you're trying to say that _you_ don't want me here?" She asked.

"No," he replied, focusing intently back on her, letting the emotions settle down and away again. "I'm not saying I don't want you here," he added, only to pause and replay the words to check they had made sense. They had. "I'm saying _you_ don't have to be here," he tried to clarify for her.

"Well, I _am_ _here_," she stated with a firm finality. "Any more questions?" She challenged.

He had to sort of smile at that response. Raven certainly hadn't changed while he'd been near death. That felt good at least.

She was still looking at him expectantly.

One question did come instantly to mind.

"Has the goat had her young yet?" He asked.

Seeal's challenging expression transformed instantly into a smile.

It was a pretty smile.

"No, not yet," she reported with feeling. "But it's going to be any day now, maybe tomorrow. She's _huge_," she emphasised the description as she lifted her computer pad, tapped the screen quickly and then turned the pad so that he could see a picture of the goat.

Seeal was right, the poor goat's belly was massive.

"I've got the animal specialist staying in the Hydroponics Bay and monitoring her constantly," Seeal added as she turned the pad back round, tapped on it again, and then held up another picture for him. This one was the ghostly image of a scan, showing the crushed up ball of the baby goats all crammed together inside their mother's belly.

"This is the scan from this morning," Seeal explained and reached round the pad to shift the image along to the next, which showed one of the Hydroponics Bay Gardeners sitting holding the goat while the animal specialist was holding a scanner to the goat's belly. The goat did not look impressed with the specialist and his tech.

"The animal specialist asked me again if she has a name," Seeal noted as she lowered the pad, "So I really think we should name her." She'd brought this up before. "I'm still voting for Belka."

"A Belkan goat named Belka – very original," he muttered sarcastically.

"Do you have any better ideas?" She challenged. "What's the Ugun word for 'goat'?"

"I'm saying it when I say 'goat', you just hear it in your own language," he reminded her.

"Good point," Raven replied and paused, as if in thought.

His shoulder was tightening up again. Stupid lying down all the time.

"So I think we should go with Belka," Seeal concluded.

"Fine," he agreed with a sigh. Belka was actually a nice name.

"Good, because I've been using it with her already, training her to understand the name," Seeal smiled. She really hadn't changed at all. "The hard part will be coming up with names for all her young when they arrive," she added thoughtfully.

"Belkie?" Oneakka suggested on impulse.

She laughed.

It was a sudden and nice sound.

He wasn't certain, because his brain was still fogged up with medication, but he didn't think he'd made her honestly laugh like that before.

"Belko?" She suggested in return.

"Belku," he followed the game.

She considered another version. "Belly?" But she shook her head like she didn't actually like the name.

"Could work," he considered.

"I'll do some research, come up with some nice names," she decided as she shifted herself abruptly sideways and then back again in her chair, possibly because she was tucking one of her legs up under her. Getting comfortable.

She set the pad aside and looked back at him. "It's actually nice to be able to have a proper conversation with you again."

It almost seemed a compliment.

"You don't seem all that grumpy and difficult to me," she added.

He frowned at that and what she implied. "Halling said that?" He asked. Had Halling gone and told Seeal his stupid 'Cuddly Bears of Moor' theory? Oneakka didn't need to be compared to a small fluffy and friendly semi-domesticated creature.

"Not _just_ Halling," Seeal supplied with a smile that said she was clearly enjoying the moment. "_Everyone_ has been saying it. Apparently you're going to get difficult, grumpy, sullen, and argumentative."

He wanted to argue the point, but there was some truth in it. He healed faster than people accepted and sometimes you had to push yourself to get better faster.

"I keep asking them how that description is in any way different to what you're normally like," Seeal added with a pleased grin.

"Because those descriptions are nothing like you," he returned.

"I don't get sullen," she objected.

"Please," he muttered as he shifted his left shoulder, the muscles starting to properly cramp now.

"I'll give you 'argumentative' and 'difficult' at times," she admitted.

He glanced back at her. "I really wish you wouldn't," he bantered back.

There was the faintest of smiles around her pointed glare.

The cramp was definitely clenching up into a spasm, so he tried to arch his back a little to try and-

It had been a mistake. The movement pulled sharply through his wound.

The room disappeared behind the shocking blaze of pain and he swore he actually blacked out for a second.

Squeezing his eyes and teeth tightly, he worked to simply breathe, to force his lungs to draw in a deep breath and then let it out in a long slow out breath. Years of relaxation training kicked in and he focused everything he had on just his breathing.

With each breath he focused on a different part of his body, willing it to relax through the pain. First his legs, then his shoulders, his arms, his chest, and, gradually, enough of him started to settle. He dropped his head back against the pillows and forced himself to open his clenched fists, and finally the pain eased down, slowly sliding away behind the thick fog of the numbing medication once more.

Awareness of the room around him returned and he let out another long breath as he opened his eyes. He realised he could feel Seeal's hand on his chest and the further warmth of her forearm lying over his upper arm.

He looked round towards her with a flush of embarrassment. She was sat right up against his bedside, her arm indeed lying over him with her hand on his upper chest.

She gave him a grim smile and patted his chest with her hand. "At least you weren't killed," she offered supportively.

He grimaced his answer, worrying a little now about Meiyo's plan for him to change position on the bed tomorrow.

Seeal patted his chest reassuringly again. "You need the Healers?" She asked.

"No," he shook his head. His body felt exhausted but the pain had stayed behind the wall of medication and his shoulder had finally stopped seizing up.

"Okay," Seeal nodded and lifted her hand, her arm sliding off his as she sat back into her chair.

He really hated this being so weak and helpless; being so damaged that people he knew respected him looked at him with pity and concern. He really didn't like Raven seeing him this way, but she didn't seem to be looking at him with any obvious pity right now.

"I _told_ you _not_ to go onto that Hive," she said instead.

He let out an exhausted amused breath. She wasn't going to let go of that any time soon it seemed.

"It was a successful mission," he pointed out.

"You almost died!" She argued instantly, though he kind of sensed that maybe she was being argumentative to keep the usual banter going and help distract him from the whole full body pain spasm.

"I've been nearly killed hundreds of times," he dismissed her point.

"Really?" She scoffed. "Hundreds? You've been at death's door at least two _hundred_ times?"

"Probably," he shrugged faintly, but only using his right shoulder and only lifting it a mere inch or so. "I haven't kept score."

She narrowed her eyes doubtfully at him. "Alright, so, besides your facial injury," she gestured towards the right side of his face.

Only Raven would talk so directly about his scars. Some might think she was being unfeeling, but he found it refreshing. People usually tiptoed around talking about his face, and even his closest friends never mentioned it. He always assumed it was because of the circumstances of his injury, or maybe because the scars were so disfiguring. Or, alternatively, maybe it was because they were just too used to the scars now. He'd carried them for almost two decades.

So long.

To everyone else, maybe the scars were just normal and they never thought about the circumstances anymore.

And maybe he'd stopped thinking about it too every time he looked in the mirror. Except, he couldn't accept that what had happened to his people, what he'd gone through in that burning base, should ever settle vaguely into 'normal' and ever be forgotten.

"And this last time," Seeal's question continued, cutting through the relived horror.

He focused intently back on her, letting his whisperer call him back to the conversation.

"...being impaled by a Hive ship-" she repeated her former description.

"It wasn't a _whole_ Hive ship," he corrected her again.

"_When_ have you been _this_ injured before?" She finished her question.

He paused and honestly considered his answer, letting it help him focus on anything other than his people.

He had no idea how many injuries he'd suffered in his working career or from his years as a Recruit, though Meiyo could probably tell him. There were certainly plenty to choose from, but the main contenders...

"When I was perhaps thirteen yearly cycles, we were practicing climbing skills," he told her, "up a high steep-sided valley. I lost my footing and started falling, my rope sheared off against glass-sharp rocks further up and I tumbled down the valley wall and dropped the last part straight to the valley floor."

Raven winced in sympathy.

"I broke my right leg, three ribs, and part of my left forearm," he told her. "I wasn't able to walk properly for about two months after that."

"Ouch!" She winced dramatically again. "Okay, that one can go on the list."

"And there was the time I challenged one of the most vicious Elite to a fight," he continued thoughtfully.

"What like a sparring session?" She asked.

"No, a proper challenge, in a corridor in a different facility we trained in."

"How old were you?"

"I think about eleven yearly cycles old," he estimated through his medication fog.

"Eleven?!" She spluttered. "You challenged an Elite warrior to a fight when you were eleven and he or she took the challenge?"

"He tried to ignore me at first, but I was taller than most my age, so I had more of a punch," Oneakka recalled with nostalgic warmth.

"You punched him to get him to fight you?" Seeal correctly interpreted.

"I was a little headstrong when I was younger," he explained.

"Younger?! You just went onto a Hive ship that was full of deadly radiation, was literally falling apart from the inside out, and was about to come under fire from the Military Fleet!" Seeal pointed out.

"That's just being brave," he replied only to realise that it had sounded very boastful, or perhaps even flirtatious, but it was probably just the medication fog.

She rolled her eyes dramatically and made a scoffing noise. "No, that's being _stupid_," she replied, but she didn't sound like she actually believed that. "So you punched this Elite warrior and I assume he retaliated at the arrogant little upstart Recruit who thought he could best him?"

"Oh, I knew I had no chance at winning," Oneakka told her.

She shifted back in her chair a little, looking like she was definitely getting more comfortable. "Were you testing him or yourself?"

"Both," he admitted.

"How long did you last?" She asked with a faint smile.

"Not long," he admitted. "I woke up in the Healing Bay about three days later and still can't remember most of the fight."

She chuckled. "I had a somewhat similar experience outside a pit fight venue on a little planet called Nimbo," she started.

"I know Nimbo," he told her as he settled his head a little further into the pillows.

"Really? It's well outside the Alliance borders."

"Nimbo traded a lot with my people, I found a lot of Ugun goods there," he explained, but that was only half of the truth. In reality, he'd been on a number of training missions to Nimbo. Nimbo was a standard location for Recruits to observe crowds, studying Human behaviours and adaptations to Wraith cullings. Some Recruits were even caught up in a culling, so there had always been the nervous expectation of that happening during a mission.

Once an Elite, his visits to Nimbo had mostly been to collect Ugun items, which he'd been doing since the day he had woken up an orphan.

Which, he realised, meant that it was possible that he could have been on Nimbo at the same time as Seeal when he'd been younger, could even have walked past her for all he knew.

He'd actually seen part of a pit fight there once. He'd been chasing a Wraith worshipper through a busy town, and the man had tried to lose him down in the crowded space of a pit fight audience. Oneakka couldn't remember much about the fighters, except that they had been male and the two in the pit had looked relieved at the sudden distraction of a fight outside the pit.

Seeal though nodded at his simple explanation, looking a little nostalgic herself now. "Nimbo is small, but they trade enough for several planets and the towns there were always ridiculously overcrowded, even after cullings."

He nodded his agreement. "It's still the same there now," he informed her. He'd last been there a few months ago seeking out intel on The Traitor's movements beyond the border. He recalled seeing some scrawny children at the edges of the busy streets.

"Were you living on Nimbo?" He asked.

"For awhile," she nodded.

"Living on the street?"

"On and off," she confirmed.

He reached up carefully and pushed one of his pillows further under his right cheek so he could rest his head facing towards her.

"It was normal for us street kids to head through the Portal to different planets regularly to keep ahead of city gangs or the local equivalent of Enforcement," she explained.

He wished he'd given some currency to those children on Nimbo, or, probably better, had bought them some food.

"We'd always end up back on Nimbo at some point though," Seeal continued her tale, "but it was only when I starting pit fighting that I was there regularly."

Which reminded him that she'd started telling him a particular story before they'd gotten distracted about Nimbo.

"What happened outside that pit fight venue then?" He reminded her.

"Well," she took a deep breath, "we were never supposed to fight each other outside the pits, but this other fighter challenged me in the middle of the street...

00000  
TBC


	12. The Watchers

**DAY 10 – Insight **

**Chapter 12 – The Watchers**

Something was wrong.

Halling could feel it.

On the surface, Oneakka appeared to be recovering well. It would be a long recovery, and he was still far from well, but Meiyo was pleased with his progress. Oneakka could now move around a little on the bed, albeit carefully and slowly, and could now feed himself. Rather than lying flat, the head of his bed could now be lifted and Oneakka spent his days in a reclined position against a small mountain of pillows. It meant he could now more easily interact with people and it was pleasing to be able to have proper conversations with him again. Oneakka had also started reading the Skerti research reports and updates, and always had questions ready when Halling arrived for his afternoons with his friend.

Oneakka also hadn't snapped at any of his visitors yet either, hadn't lost his temper with his progress, and, so far, was obeying all instructions from the Healers. The grump, it appeared, was late in arriving this time. That alone was a little unusual, but considering the extent of his injuries, even Oneakka had to understand the importance of being careful and patient in these early days of healing.

But that wasn't what had been niggling at Halling.

There was something else about Oneakka, something he wasn't talking about and seemed to be actively trying to hide. At first it had just been an intuitive sense, no doubt borne of long years of friendship that told Halling something was wrong with his friend. But as the days had progressed, Halling had started catching tiny glimpses in Oneakka's expression and mood that hinted at something being very wrong. At first Halling had thought perhaps he was misreading moments of physical pain as Oneakka struggled with his injury, but a moment yesterday had finally proven that he wasn't imagining things.

He'd left Oneakka alone for a few minutes while he went to refill the water jug, and, upon returning down the corridor, Halling had glanced through the window back into the room to see Oneakka sitting silently gazing off into the distance. It hadn't been a soft sleepy look though, instead Oneakka had had an expression that Halling had never seen before.

It had been a look of such depressed sadness that Halling had frozen in the hallway, watching his friend stare at the far wall of his healing room with glazed despondent eyes.

The only time Halling had seen something even close to that expression from Oneakka had been on that fateful horrific day when Oneakka had woken up from his long coma, his face newly scarred for life, long months of rehab ahead, and his heart broken. He'd woken up to a galaxy without his family, without a single other Ugun alive. Halling could not even conceive how he would react if that happened to every Athosian.

Since that young life-changing day, Oneakka had gone through numerous injuries and experienced grief and pain many times as an Elite, but never had Halling seen such deep hurt in his friend again...until now.

As he had stood in the corridor watching Oneakka stare across his room, his expression so sad and lost, a fearful thought had occurred to Halling: did Oneakka regret his survival?

Halling hated to even consider such a thing, and normally Oneakka would be the last person he would worry might feel that way, but... Halling had seen the look on Oneakka's face on the blood-soaked floor of that Hive ship. Oneakka's anguish and pain had turned into soft peace and relief as he had shifted his gaze up to the ceiling, his eyes closing. Halling had seen that expression too many times and Seeal had recognised it too as she begged and ordered Oneakka to stay with them.

Had Oneakka's look of relief meant he had wanted to go?

Was his survival now something that pained him?

Halling could not bear to think of his friend feeling something like that, and hoped that he was perhaps misinterpreting what he'd seen through that window. Perhaps it was just that Oneakka was dealing with the fact that he had essentially died for a few minutes before the Healers had restarted his heart? They were all growing older, far older than any of them had expected to live as an Elite, so perhaps it was just that Oneakka had finally been forced to deal with his own mortality? Halling had faced that dark demon himself recently and he would not falter in making sure he helped Oneakka deal with it too.

Halling had tried to subtly ask what was wrong yesterday and again today, but Oneakka had simply taken such questions to refer to his injury. That was perhaps understandable, or it might be that he was attempting to hide what was wrong. Either way, and whatever the true reason for Oneakka's sadness, it was becoming clear to Halling that he was going to have to ask directly.

As always, it was simply finding the right moment when Oneakka would be receptive to such a question and be willing to share what was bothering him so deeply.

And such a moment would have to be carefully judged.

0000

Everything was going to plan so far. It was the first official trip back to Athos since the Major – no, _Lieutenant_ _Colonel_ – had been taken by Kolya, and that fact felt like a literal weight on Laura's shoulders.

She would never forgive herself for having gone through that Gate ahead of him on M1K 177, even though he kept insisting she'd done nothing wrong. Colonel Carter and Colonel Sumner had agreed she'd not failed her in her duties, but she knew she had. She should have kept by his side, gone through the Gate alongside him despite his order for her to go through first.

Carson had told her she was beating herself up over it, but she knew she wasn't. She'd made a mistake and she was never going to let it happen again. It's what a good soldier did – never made the same mistake twice.

She was going to make damn sure that she didn't fail again during the three day stay here on Athos. Going with the whole Political Marriage contract, the Major – _Colonel_! – could bring his team with him to Athos, but only one of them when visiting Elite bases or ships. It meant that, on the fourth day of the trip, when the Colonel – good, she'd gotten his rank right this time – went to the big Elite Training Facility, it was only Ford who would be going with him. She didn't like that and didn't see why the Elite had such a tight restriction, but, for now, she was part of his limited protection detail and she wasn't going to let her guard down for the next three days.

The presence of the Honour Guard was reassuring though. She and Ford had gone out of their way to thank the five guards again for their rescuing the Colonel back on the Genii homeworld. The five Athosians also seemed more willing to incorporate her and Ford into their protection detail and she kind of got the feeling that Atlantis had gone up in their estimation. She wasn't sure why exactly, considering the Honour Guard had been the ones to do the real work in getting the Colonel out of Kolya's bunker of death, but she wasn't about to question it. The Colonel clearly appreciated the Honour Guard more than ever, not having made a single standard derogatory joke about not needing any babysitters. He seemed to have finally accepted that he needed them all watching out for him, which was something of a relief for her and Ford. She didn't need to worry about him trying to sneak off, not that Vakalis in particular would allow that.

The Lead Honour Guard was consistently within two feet of the Colonel's shoulder at all times, the Athosian's eyes moving constantly, but with a relaxed focus of someone who clearly had a long and experienced military career. In fact all of the Honour Guard apparently came from extensive military backgrounds, which didn't surprise Laura. Elite Emmagan clearly would have had her pick of any Athosian to help watch over her Political Husband.

Currently Vakalis was stood behind the Colonel's left shoulder, while Ford was just behind his right. The Colonel was stood with Elite Emmagan and Leader Torren pretty much in the centre of the large Athosian room speaking to various guests, the place full to the brim with visitors arriving for the big 'we're all still friends' banquet that Leader Torren was throwing for the first day of the visit. Laura was pretty sure that Torren had vetted all his guests today as friendlies, but she wasn't about to let her guard down.

Stood a few metres in front of the Colonel, keeping him in her twelve o'clock position, Laura kept her gaze moving across the crowd, paying particular attention to the area behind Vakalis and Ford's shoulders where they couldn't watch. To her far left stood Shemu of the Honour Guard, watching over that side of the room and Meroe, the third member of the Guard in sight, was at Laura's far three o'clock position. The other two members of the Honour Guard were not in sight, but they would be somewhere nearby. The Colonel was adequately watched from all angles and the guests would be left with little doubt that the Colonel was very well protected.

In fact, for this banquet at least, she had even more support. With Woolsey also invited to the banquet, Lorne and his team had accompanied them today. Glancing briefly away from the Colonel and the two friendlies he was talking with, Laura located all of Lorne's team in the same positions as before, all extra eyes watching. Woolsey was currently doing his cheerful political talk with various vaguely recognisable guests, Elite Emmagan's sister, Zabetha, and Zabetha's very handsome husband at his side. What was the man's name again? Rhak-something? Laura could certainly see why Zabetha had chosen him. He was tall, strong, and always smiling and was clearly a good catch. Zabetha certainly seemed to think so, for any time she looked up at Rhak-something, she got that soft dreamy look to her face.

Lorne spotted Laura looking his way and gave her a small nod. She returned the nod - all was okay – and then she returned her attention to the Colonel.

Speaking of dreamy looks...

The previous guests talking with the Colonel had now moved away and the Colonel was saying something to Elite Emmagan. Laura didn't know the details, and didn't _want_ to know, but it was pretty obvious that something big had changed between the two following the Colonel's miraculous return to health after being fed on by that Wraith.

The Colonel and Elite Emmagan had always had some chemistry going on, but there had also been mostly polite smiles and, according to Ford, a few tensions too. Now though, it was pretty obvious to Laura that something had changed. Just the way the Colonel stood closer than usual to the petite warrior spoke of a new level of intimacy that Laura hadn't seen him share with anyone in the City. There were also the near constant smiles, which could be written off by most as just polite and for show, but it was obvious to her that the Colonel was actually enjoying himself today.

She watched as the Colonel whispered something down to his 'Political' wife and the woman smiled widely at whatever joke he'd made. Clearly Emmagan was enjoying his attention, and Laura had spotted that the woman touching the Colonel's arm a few times.

You didn't need to be a McKay-level genius to know what was going on. She just hoped that Woolsey, the Colonels, and the IOA remained unaware of it.

Still, it kind of reassured Laura a little, because clearly the Elite warrior was going to be watching the Colonel's back closely...including during the nights in their adjoining quarters.

In fact, when they had checked out the Colonel's quarters earlier, Laura had made sure to peer through the open adjoining doorway that led into Emmagan's bedroom so that she knew where Emmagan's bed stood. Just in case she and Ford needed to get to the Colonel in the middle of the night.

Laura had already talked though the nightshift cover with Vakalis and Ford. She and Ford had been assigned shared quarters as close as possible to the Colonel's quarters, which meant they were only a short corridor away. They would each cover half of the night, one of them sleeping and the other patrolling the hallways with one of the Honour Guard. The section of the Complex that made up the governing family's living quarters was probably the most protected and hardest to infiltrate within the Governing Complex, but Kolya had managed to send an assassin up the outside of Atlantis and into the Colonel's quarters via his balcony before so Laura wouldn't put anything past the guy.

Still, it was reassuring to know that Elite Emmagan would be there in the nights, essentially a twenty-four hour personal bodyguard for the Colonel during the stay.

In fact, as highly trained bodyguards went, an Elite warrior was probably the best you could get.

000000

The darkness of the Queen's escape craft was cut through with only one full light source, pouring in from the open doorway out into the Hive's corridor.

Si had set his low stool just to the left of that light source, letting its illumination fall over the fast and desperate action of the simulated recreation of Halling's battle with the Skerti alien. He had watched the re-enactment through several times already, so much so that he now knew the series of events by heart, but he kept replaying it.

Following his return from Atlantis, he had taken a couple days of rest on Athos with some healing female companionship, and had now set about studying all he could about the new enemy. At first he'd headed to the Mad Moon to see the dead Skerti for himself, then he had read through all of Halling's shared update reports, and taken the opportunity at Oneakka's bedside to question Halling personally about his battle with the Skerti. Then he had finally made his way here to watch the recreation.

As much as he could learn about the new enemy from the reports and intel, it was only in here, watching how the Skerti had moved and attacked, that he could learn how the creature fought.

He watched as the Skerti used her superior physical and psychic strength to dominate Halling. He had fought well, but it was clear that, had intervention not arrived, Halling would not have survived. The Skerti had clearly understood that she would win, and had pressed physical weight and strength on Halling, simply waiting for his body to fail. Halling had also described her psychic attack as almost overwhelming and nearly impossible to hold back, and Si had to wonder if a Seeker like himself would fare better.

Blasts of energy fire flared passed Si, striking the Skerti' side. The creature released her grip on Halling and turned quickly towards the new threat, presenting Halling with the chance to save himself.

Si watched as Seeal's second barrage of energy fire blasted into the Skerti, causing it to jerk and stagger from the impact, but the alien still stood firm.

Until Halling struck with his blade.

The Skerti' head dropped, bounced and rolled away across the craft's floor.

"_Halling?!_"Seeal's voice called as she stepped into the edge of Si' field of view.

Halling looked round at her, his expression dazed and lost in adrenaline and shock.

"_Are you alright_?" Seeal's replicated version asked and the simulation abruptly ended.

The pale silvery cells lining the Generator filled Si' view, so he reached for the control pad on his knee and triggered the simulation to replay again.

The Generator's silvery walls disappeared instantly into the thick darkness of the Queen's escape craft once more, the lone light once again streaming in from behind Si' right shoulder. Halling's shadow slid across the light as he started into the craft, his weapon raised and ready. Si didn't turn to watch this time, but kept his eyes on the deepest darkness of the impenetrable corners of the craft.

He could not see the Skerti Queen of course, as Halling had not been able to include her location in the simulation as he had not known where she had been. Si still watched, predicting where she might have hidden herself.

These craft were normally lit the same as any other part of a Hive, so the fact that this craft had been found to be in working order, more so than the rest of the disintegrating Hive, but had been so dark presented interesting interpretations. Had the Skerti done it because she preferred the darkness or simply to use it as camouflage from which to stalk and attack Halling? Had she done it in the knowledge that Humans instinctively feared things they couldn't see in the dark?

Halling's simulation shifted along the left wall of the craft, gradually moving into Si' view again, only to pause, the dead Wraith body blocking his path. Had the Skerti left it there on purpose to be found by Halling? The recovery teams had found further dead Wraith in the front pilot section of the escape craft, killed by the Skerti before Halling had reached the craft, which implied perhaps that she needed their blood to give her strength for the fight or had she just wanted them dead? Oneakka had said a Wraith had told him about the dangers of the Skerti, clearly fearful of them and angry that one had set herself up as a false Wraith Queen. So, the Skerti mind was clearly stronger than the Wraith's.

And a Human's it seemed.

With such psychic power, the Skerti should have easily gleaned the information she wanted from Halling's mind from across the escape craft, but she had instead taken her time in stalking him from the shadows and then attacking him. Gathering information on how he moved, how he fought, just as Si was doing about her now.

She had been a scout then. Sent to seek out the enemy, test Alliance planetary defences, and then confront an Elite. Test, record, and relay.

That she had been stopped from reporting back to her kind was very fortunate, and it had provided the Elite and Alliance with the vital opportunity to learn about the Skerti and the alien drive tech.

She had been a formidable enemy indeed. As well as the dangerously powerful mind, she had been stronger and more nimble than a Wraith. Though Seeal had hit the creature with at least four energy blasts, it had done little to stop the Skerti. The impacts had obviously hurt her, the burns on the body had been evident, but the Skerti had been able to withstand them far better than a Wraith could, and there had been evidence of her healing the burns in the short moments before her death. It had only been Halling severing her head from her body that had actually stopped her.

A dangerous enemy indeed.

The simulated Halling fired energy blasts across the darkness, lighting up the brief shadow of the Skerti moving across the far side of the craft, but she was almost immediately lost again into the darkness.

The Mad Moon believed she had superior night vision compared to Wraith.

Si lifted his eyes up to the domed ceiling of the craft, knowing where she would soon appear. And there she was, crawling upside down along the ceiling.

Wraith didn't do that.

The Iratus insect did though.

The simulated battle abruptly started, the Skerti dropping down on Halling violently and powerfully. The battle didn't last very long, though obviously Halling could not be overly accurate of the timing considering his heightened adrenaline at the time. As Si watched the battle's fast action, he knew each strike now, and, once again, he admired how well Halling had fought in the face of such unknown power.

Then the moment of frozen impasse held, the Skerti thrusting Halling's head round as she reached for his throat with her protruding fangs while Halling held her back with desperate force.

Seeal's energy blasts cut through the air and slammed into the Skerti, ending the stalemate and saving Halling's life. This time Si shifted his gaze round to Seeal's simulated shape. She was only a silhouette within the single bright light of the doorway into the craft.

She fired again and Si heard Halling grunt and the slice of the blade cutting through Skerti skin, flesh, and bone. Si kept his eyes on Seeal's silhouette though.

"_Halling?!"_ She called, sounding worried and out-of-breath as she moved further into the craft.

She had run down through several Hive levels, the floors and ceilings dissolving and collapsing, to reach Halling in time, sent by Oneakka's dying plea.

"_Are you alright_?" Seeal's simulation asked worriedly.

The simulation ended and dissolved around him, leaving him in the silence of the Generator, surrounded by its silvery cells.

He considered the space where Seeal's simulation had stood.

Letting out a deep sigh, he pushed up from his stool and headed towards the faint outline among the wall cells that defined the exit out of the Generator. The door slid open for him and he stepped out of the metal box of the Generator and into the small Elite-only gym. It was noticeably cooler outside the Generator, but it was something of a relief. The gym was otherwise empty with it being just after midday meal in the Facility, so most other Elite here were on rotation, teaching Recruits, or busy helping Halling's team with research on the Skerti.

Si headed for the lone wall panel in the gym and tapped in his location request.

The canteen closest to the living quarters section.

He left the gym quietly, the hallways passing by around him without his interest.

The conflicts had been warring in him too long now.

He'd gone through all angles in his head, let himself dwell, forget, and attempt to logically consider things, but there was only so much he could do without going to the source he had been avoiding.

The information held within the Dreamstation database was available to him, as was anything that Toshka might have held on Saoka, but Si had not looked at them yet.

Part of him didn't want to know, but feared he knew already.

Too many days now he'd tried to avoid the conflicting emotions and sense of betrayal since he, Oneakka, and Seeal had confronted Saoka in his office on his prized marketing station. Since the day that Si had lost faith.

Saoka had sent him a links message _every_ day since, declaring he had done nothing wrong. He had repeated that the military hardware moving through his stations had been on contract agreement with the High Council, and that, had he known stolen Elite hardware had been moved through his stations, he would have told Si. He had insisted that he kept to the law, that he would never betray Si, and that he had only given in to Seeal's threat about a backdoor into his computer systems because it threatened his business interests.

Seeal had handed over her supposed backdoor code to look into Saoka's computers, swearing it hadn't been a simple bluff to get Saoka to help them. It didn't matter to Si either way, as Saoka's own reaction and acquiescence to Seeal's threat to expose his computers to the Elite had been enough. That reaction was evidence enough of guilt.

How far and how deep that guilt extended was unknown and somehow Si had managed to avoid answering the question. He had ignored all of Saoka's daily messages up until the day he had left for Atlantis with Teyla. He had sent Saoka one message, saying simply that he was too busy to deal with the matter. That had turned out to be true with Kolya's actions and the new Skerti threat, but he had had several days now to reply to Saoka, but he hadn't. Saoka had still sent his daily messages of innocence though.

Si realised that he had reached the canteen. He paused inside the entrance and spotted his target easily.

She was sat alone on the far side of a table towards the back of the big canteen. She had several computer pads set up on the table's surface creating a workstation for herself and there was an empty food tray beside Seeal's elbow. She appeared to have camped out in here to work, probably on her project work or, possibly, helping with Halling's Skerti research.

With a bracing breath, Si headed towards her.

He had only seen her once since the Military celebration following the Nest System victory, and that had been at Oneakka's near deathbed. Si had focused on Oneakka during that emotional visit and had only glanced at Seeal once to see her head lowered with very obvious grief. He had then actively avoided seeing her since.

Though he had agreed with Oneakka and Nalla's previous assessment that Seeal was not a threat, he had remained a little unsure of her, worried faintly by Oneakka's reluctant attraction to her and the power that could give her. However, her efforts to help save Halling against the Skerti and her loyalty in sitting by Oneakka's bedside had made Si reluctantly admit that it was not her that he mistrusted. It was not _her_ that he hadn't wanted to see, it was what she _represented_.

The more he grew to trust her, the greater the risk that he would need to believe what she might say about Saoka. So he had avoided her and the dangerous moment where he would have to confront the dubious nature of Saoka and what that meant about their past.

But now it was time for him to face it.

Seeal noticed him approaching and a look of worried concern struck her features. She sat up straight, glancing down at her computer pads and back up worriedly.

"What's happened?" She demanded while he was still several metres away.

"Nothing has happened," he assured her calmly. He was such an unexpected visitor that it was not overly surprising that she assumed he brought bad news, either of a new crisis or that perhaps that Oneakka's health had abruptly failed.

She visibly relaxed her shoulders and let out a breath, but her eyes stayed on him. With that sharp, dangerously alert gaze of hers, she watched him as he reached her table and drew out the chair directly opposite hers.

He sat down in the chair without comment and looked across the table at her.

She watched him back, clearly curious and possibly a little suspicious as well.

She looked healthier, her skin a warmer tone and her cheeks slightly fuller. She looked settled and comfortable here in the canteen, which suggested familiarity and a sense of safety.

She was a very beautiful woman. She was tall for a female, meaning that he only had to dip his chin slightly in order to look her in the eyes, which was unusual with his height. She held herself with strong confidence, holding his gaze directly without fear. She had tall and wide cheekbones, her forehead high, and her eyes dark brown under black eyebrows and long black hair. Her Glisi heritage was presumably responsible for such a dynamic bone structure, but added to the clear muscle definition across her shoulders and arms, she appeared very much a warrior. Her actions since her arrival in the Alliance had proven that assessment to be true enough.

He faced her with a level gaze, which she continued to hold without any appearance of intimidation or discomfort. He could definitely understand Oneakka's fascination.

But that was not why he was here.

"I want you to tell me about Saoka," he stated.

Seeal nodded as if she had predicted as much.

She settled back, relaxing into her seat, no doubt feeling more in control now. "I thought you'd told him that you would forget his past misgivings and trust he'll do better," she paraphrased what he'd told Saoka in that last fateful meeting.

"He has a complex past," Si replied, instantly disliking himself for making excuses already. "He has changed-"

"Has he?" Seeal interrupted doubtfully.

"How can you be so certain that he hasn't?" Si challenged her, aware of the rising defensive anger he had wanted to avoid. She had only met Saoka once, despite her long familiarity of his supposed escapades. She had not faced danger at Saoka's side, hadn't gone through things with him that could bond people beyond simple friendship.

Seeal's dark eyes studied him intently, one of her fingers tapping lightly against the top of the table. "Why do _you_ think he has changed?" She asked. "His trading station empire is ridiculously successfully for a trader who started out with a tiny market stall on the side of a small street."

It would not be overly difficult to find out where and how Saoka had started his career, but Seeal had wielded the information with such casual ease that it was clearly very common knowledge to her. He suspected that perhaps she even knew which precise street Saoka had set up his first market stall. That level of research worried him, but also presented a strange mutual understanding of Saoka.

"He is very good at what he does," Si replied, a little annoyed with himself for arguing the point against a very valid logical question.

"Yes," she replied with weight. "He is very good at what he does."

Si made himself release the tense breath he was holding.

He prided himself on his ability to remain calm in the face of anything, but one of the very few subjects that could cause him to lose that calm was Saoka. Despite the many questions about Saoka's business over the years, Si had always felt compelled to believe in the true honourable heart in Saoka's chest.

Unfortunately, Seeal represented the very antithesis of that theory – living proof of perhaps Saoka's true darkness and Si' own foolishness in believing in him all these years.

"And you are very good at what you do," Seeal added, surprising Si a little. "So, I find it hard to believe that an experienced Elite warrior like you would be fooled by Saoka's play."

Si schooled his features, sensing she was seeking something from him.

"It makes me suspect that maybe he's had occasion to help the Elite? Maybe helped you specifically," Seeal considered, her voice lifting in a question as she watched him. "Maybe you feel indebted to him?"

He simply held her gaze, refusing to admit the truths out loud that could suggest he might have compromised himself and his loyalty to law and order.

Seeal narrowed her eyes slightly. "Maybe you feel the need to protect him?"

No, that was beyond a point for him. He would never knowingly betray his values, even for Saoka.

"No, I do not," he stated clearly to her. "If someone steps into something they know to be dangerous, it is only their own fault if it drags them to their death," he told her, paraphrasing a military poem that he had long associated with Saoka.

Seeal shifted her head to the side in thought. "Perhaps 'protect' is the wrong word then. Maybe 'save'?" She asked, her eyes sharp like a bird of prey staring at its intended meal.

Si felt the truth of her guess. All the years they had known each other how often had Si striven to repeat to Saoka about the importance to always redeem and rise above past actions that might have once been necessary.

"I imagine though," Seeal continued, "that if you were trying to save a person from being dragged down into a cold sea of danger, you'd still feel loss and maybe guilt that you couldn't save them."

Guilt? Did he feel guilty? Did he fear that, were Saoka still dealing in dangerous criminal acts, that he might be complicit by having turned a blind eye to them?

Did that make him rather like Seeal in her days on Dreamstation?

"I know he is not a pure man," Si told her honestly, "but very few of us are."

"That depends on how you define 'purity' surely," Seeal disagreed. "If you define it as good intentions, then I would argue that there are probably a lot of people who try to do well."

He was a little surprised at hearing such faith from her given her past associations and childhood or...had the words been intended to help him feel better about his complicity?

"But I don't think Saoka is one of them," she added.

And there was the confirmation that Si had not wanted to hear, nor the certainty with which she said it. Before that fateful confrontation in Saoka's office, Si would have fought to defend Saoka endlessly, believing in the better part of him. Now, had that been a foolish, misguided and even naive belief? Had he even been simply a tool for Saoka to manipulate and use all these years?

Si knew he was a man of many things, but naivety had never been characteristic he had associated with himself before. Just the thought of being used like that...

He looked away from Seeal, glancing away across the familiar and understandable Facility canteen around him. Here things had always been simple – a life that was indeed dangerous, powerful, and short-lived, but always clear. The life of an Elite was that of purity of profession and purpose, but far from a purity from aggression.

"I can't imagine that it would be all that difficult for you to find out about Saoka's dealings," Seeal's voice continued as Si looked across the Recruits sat alone at their tables studying. "You're an Elite, you could talk to Division and Enforcement, who I am almost certain have cabinets full of intel that links back to Saoka. You can even dig through everything I gathered on Saoka in the Dreamstation database," Seeal continued. "So, I think that you're here talking to me because you want very specific pieces of information about him."

Si glanced back at her.

"So, ask me, Honoured Elite," she stated. The invitation set out plain and simple for him to find out what he wanted, a filtered version of everything she had learnt about Saoka over no doubt many years.

But wasn't it also that it was _her_ offering to be that filter. Someone who, more than anyone else he had met, could understand and assess the levels of purity found among those in the dirt?

Why not ask the questions he truly wanted to know?

"Is he a murderer?" Si asked one of his primary fears that he had not allowed himself to believe. He watched Seeal's face closely as she answered.

"Not as far as I'm aware," she replied. "That's not really how he works."

"Violence?" Si interpreted.

"In a very precise way," Seeal replied.

"Explain that to me," Si pushed.

Seeal glanced away, appearing to consider how best to answer him. "You remember Creass?" She asked.

"Of course," Si dismissed.

"I think of Saoka and Creass as being two versions of the same role. Both men started with nothing really and built up a trader's fortune in currency and trading dominance. Both men wanted to be a focal point around which all other traders have to turn and, of course, pay a fee."

Si frowned at the easy way she compared the two men, one a known violent criminal who had run Dreamstation like his own empire.

"Both men crave wealth and influence, and you don't get to that position of power without removing the competition, both to gain dominance and then to hold it," Seeal stated. "To become powerful you have to steal from others and then stop others stealing from you," she appeared to quote. "To do that, Creass worked rather like a heavy hammer. He has always been a blunt, violent weapon, but he could be very effective. If someone got in his way, he used the blunt force approach, hitting and crushing. In contrast, Saoka is more like a surgeon's scalpel. He can cause a deep sharp cut, but in a very precise calculated place that gets him exactly what he needs."

Si frowned at the picture she had painted. "A scalpel can kill just as quickly as a hammer," he noted, finding himself suddenly on the other side of the argument.

"True," Seeal nodded. "But his cuts are in severing trading links and relationships, then reforming them in the way he wants them, using his influence and ability to manipulate people to get what he wants. People might not be murdered, but, along the way, people still get hurt. He can cut off a family's wealth in an instant with the right move without physically harming them, but is it any less devastating for them to lose their currency, security and their home?" She asked. "In his mind, he no doubt just calls it the business of trade, but he is just another version of Creass, simply using a different weapon to reach the same ends."

Si sighed.

"That said," Seeal added a little thoughtfully, "when you consider that the Alliance's High Council can do exactly the same thing but on a wider scale," Seeal added, "you could argue that what Saoka does is simply the way powerful men and women now work in the Alliance."

"That does not make it right," Si stated.

"No, it doesn't," Seeal agreed. "But I'm a believer in balance."

Si frowned at her. "Balancing out one's good and bad actions in life?"

She smiled. It was an unexpectedly amused and attractive smile. "No, I mean those who keep going too far out on the ice will one day fall through."

"Is that Glisi religion?" He asked.

"No, it's experience," she replied. "On Dreamstation, those who gambled the most, always eventually ended up losing the most. Those who kept pushing security, one day eventually got their noses broken, and those who strive for power will one day have it all taken away from them."

Si considered her theory. "You believe that Saoka will one day lose everything he has built up?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "In some form or another."

He sighed faintly, unsure that the conversation had helped him a great deal. He had, at least, gained some insight. He could ask her for more specific detail, but she was right that he could easily find that in the Dreamstation database. No, for now, he had gained what he needed from her. Some of it, he rather wished he didn't have to think about further, but he would.

"Thank you for your information," he nodded to Seeal as he pushed up from his chair and turned to leave.

"Honoured Elite?" Seeal interrupted his departure though and he turned back to her.

"Maybe," she suggested, her eyes holding his meaningfully, "he's already losing what he values the most."

Si frowned at her implication: she meant him?

00000  
TBC


	13. Belka's Babies

**DAY 10 – Insight **

**Chapter 13 – Belka's Babies**

She did not know how many banquets she had attended on Athos in her long years, but each gave Charin a deep sense of pleasure and pride.

Each represented the strength, friendly trade, and success of her people. Athos had always been a strong trading world, even in the dark days of the cullings, but the last two decades had seen Athos truly flourish. Torren had helped lead their people as a fully active member of the Alliance, trading far and wide across the allied worlds now free of the Wraith, and also setting himself up as a third party mediator between other worlds and systems. Athos had become synonymous with fair and equal trade and honest communication.

So Torren's most recent political act to exclude the Genii from all trade had been a very profound and unique act for their people, and one that Charin entirely supported. However, she had been able to rather accurately predict the reactions of the High Council. Though she had retired as Athos' High Councillor, she still had many close contacts and friends within the halls of power, so she knew the whispered words being exchanged between Councillors and their staff that never reached official records.

Though many of the Councillors were angry at Torren's decisive action, there was almost unanimous agreement off-the-record that Kolya had indeed been involved in Cowen's removal from power. Few of them believed his statements of innocence and his story of being a prisoner of Cowen's until recently. However, Cowen had been far from an innocent himself and had been regarded as highly unstable and unpredictable by the High Council, and most believed that Kolya would now bring order and stability to the Genii Confederation. Therefore, most were choosing to turn a blind eye to what had happened, instead focusing their condemnation on Torren's decision on what they believed should be unrestricted free trade within the Alliance. For them, Torren now presented the more unstable party, not because he was wrong, but because they preferred that the matter simply blow over. The recent incident of the rogue Hive attacking within Alliance space provided a far more preferable focus for the Council.

It was, unfortunately, typical politics.

As far as the hallways of power were concerned, as long as Kolya now behaved himself in the political arena, then matters would soon return to normal. It was a theory that Charin shared. As dangerous as Kolya could be, he was no fool. He would be well aware that exceedingly powerful eyes would be watching him carefully going forward. Not only would Enforcement and Division keep careful watch, the Elite would no doubt do the same. At least that meant that Kolya would be unlikely to ever again attempt to harm John. Doing so would not only bring Enforcement to his door, but the Elite would no doubt bring down their own form of justice upon him.

Charin had seen it happen before.

However, her own belief in Kolya's decision to leave John alone now was clearly not shared by those from Atlantis or the Honour Guard. All of John's protectors were very tense today, all obviously highly alert and watchful. Charin knew nothing would happen here, not simply because of the politics involved, but because there were three Pelydrians at the banquet, who all looked very relaxed. There would be no violence here today.

Not for the first time did Charin feel a wash of relief to know that her days of politics were behind her. Now she was retired she filled her elderly days visiting old friends, meeting their new grandchildren or partners, sipping tea in warm tea rooms, and sharing travels with her kind and attentive cousin. However, the fullness of winter had now arrived, so she would remain here in Tjaru, living in her lovely quarters provided for her by Torren. Some days she easily forgot that his family were not her blood, but, to her, they were her family nonetheless. It was a fact that Torren repeated to her often, and she knew her cousin was grateful she had somewhere so secure and supportive to live.

Looking around the banquet hall, Charin watched the faces of the Athosian attendants moving around the room, serving food, providing drinks, and answering any questions of the guests. Charin knew every face, every name, of the attendants. Some of them she had known most of their lives, such as with Hakon. She spotted him stood to the side of the hall, discussing something with an attendant. As always, he was overseeing the running of the event, whilst simultaneously helping run the governing side of Torren's work. Though Hakon had a team working for him, Charin suspected he alone could run an entire planet. Hakon noticed her attention and smiled widely at her across the room and she smiled back at him before he returned his attention to his work. She remembered him as a small quiet boy and now look at him – helping run Athos!

She turned her gaze to her own table, looking down the long length at which sat her honorary family. Sat on only one side of the table so to look out across the banquet hall, Torren's family and guests were all engaged in comfortable conversations with each other. Torren was, as always, sat in the central position, his daughters on either side of him. Zabetha sat on his left, talking with Mr Woolsey, who was sat between her and Charin. On Torren's right, Teyla looked very comfortable as she talked with her father, gesturing in the air as if she were describing something to Torren. Charin wondered if it was a description of Atlantis, for Torren would soon finally be visiting the fabled City at the invitation of the City's Lead, Colonel Carter. He was very excited about the visit.

On Teyla's far side sat John, who looked in the middle of a very engaged conversation with Rhakshar. The two men seemed to be forging a friendship. Charin supposed the two had a great deal in common now, both married to the powerful daughters of Athos while being from different and vital allied worlds. It was also pleasing to see Rhakshar have some company, for though he was devoted to Zabetha, he had no specific working role when he lived on Athos. With John now to stay far more frequently, he had some male company who was not working on running the planet.

To her left, Elkaska gently leaned his shoulder against hers. "Assessing the room?" He asked.

Charin smiled round at him. "Just enjoying it all."

"Your assessment?" Elkaska pushed.

She smiled at Elkaska, remembering all too well how he was as a sweet little boy always staring off into the skies as he was forced to follow his elder sister around the camp. Of course Torren had nearly always joined the pair, eagerly helping Tagan with her camp chores. However, when any traders arrived in the camp, young Elkaska had attached himself to them like a limpet, full of eager questions and hoping to sell some of his Mother's soaps. He was a born trader, the compulsion and skill there from such a young age.

Having been part of the High Council, she knew far more than most about the vital role Elkaska and other traders had played in the early days of the Alliance, fighting in his own way through obtaining and providing essentials and information for the troops. Though he often lamented that Teyla had not become a trader like him, Charin suspected Elkaska had no idea how much of a warrior's heart he had himself. Tagan had always been the strong dominant one of the two siblings, but Elkaska still shared her strength and determination, which Charin also saw so clearly in Tagan's beautiful daughters.

"I was simply considering how John's presence will benefit Rhakshar," she shared.

Elkaska nodded as he leant forward a little in his chair to peer down the table towards the two men. Elkaska's hair was peppered with grey now, telling of his maturity and growing wisdom. Where had all the years gone that had turned the small boy into this mature man of such strength of character? How lucky they were to now live such good years free of the Wraith. She had no doubt that her own advanced years would have been impossible under the old days of the cullings.

"I've been involving Rhakshar in some of the meet and greets," Elkaska informed her as he settled back in his chair again. "He's very good with people, makes them feel at ease when they arrive."

"He and Zabetha make a fine pairing," Charin noted and not for the first time.

"As do Teyla and John," Elkaska added with a smile.

Charin nodded. "Both Emmagan daughters happily married," she smiled to him. "I know that makes you very pleased."

Elkaska nodded. "We just need to find someone for Hakon."

"I have been trying," Charin assured him. "But his work is his life. Both you and I can understand that life choice."

Elkaska pulled a face as he turned and offered the last pieces of his sweetgrain bread to Umo who was sat beside his chair. Charin reached down and scratched around the pet's large fluffy warm ears.

"What are your plans for the winter?" Elkaska asked, neither of them having had any time alone since she had arrived back from her trip.

"Visit old friends in the city, but I plan to winter here in the Complex," she replied.

Elkaska nodded firmly. "Good. It's warmer and more comfortable for you here."

She ignored the kind comment that felt too much like an order. "And what of you, Elkaska? I do not recall ever seeing you stay so long on Athos before. Are your trader's toes not itching to leave?"

He straightened up from scratching along Umo's large back. "There are _plenty_ of good trading opportunities here," he told her, his gaze shifting to Mr Woolsey on her other side.

Mr Woolsey remained in deep conversation with Zabetha, so Charin leaned a little closer to Elkaska. "Anything of particular interest?" She enquired, sensing his excitement.

Elkaska leaned his shoulder right against hers conspiratorially. "They have this drink made from roasted beans. It is apparently a vast and wealthy market on their homeworld."

"I have tried it. You plan to trade it within the Alliance?" she smiled.

"Apparently, it is easy to grow in the right temperature zone, so I am in discussion with Atlantis to purchase some of the plants rather than just bags of the roasted beans."

He had that sparkly brightness in his eyes that had in no way dimmed in the years of his life. From his first sales of his mother's handmade soaps to the large planetary wide trades he had helped Torren negotiate, Elkaska loved any type of trade. Elkaska's latest success in trading directly with Atlantis was in a non-permanent writing implement called a pencil. The items had sold ridiculously fast on Athos, taking the place of the traditional chalk implements. Charin had seen the Earth pencils almost everywhere now on Athos, from the security station by the Portal to the market stalls in the city. Her cousin had even had several in her home. Leave it to Elkaska to find something so simple and profitable.

"However," Elkaska lowered his voice, glancing towards Mr Woolsey and back, "I managed to obtain a small rumour that the planet Earth is going through some temperature changes that may reduce the growth of the bean, so perhaps, in time, if we can establish good yields..." He lifted his eyebrows eagerly.

"You'll end up exporting to Earth?" She smiled. "Where did you hear such a rumour?"

Elkaska smiled as he sat back in his chair. "I can never disclose my sources," he repeated his lifelong vow. She suspected that it was Elkaska's ability to obtain such rumours that had been one of the reasons why he had become such an excellent trader, but how he had gained such informative information about a planet in another galaxy was impressive.

She reached to his closest arm and squeezed his forearm. "Do not ever change, sweet Elkaska," she told him lovingly.

00000

Seeal watched the Elite warrior Si leave the canteen, his attention forward and his head held high in that way that was very Athosian. He was very big for an Athosian though, actually he was big for most planets.

He kind of reminded her of the massive sentry trees that had been dotted throughout the Glisi forest. They had towered over the rest of the forest, their trunks metres wide and their branches big enough to lie on, and their high canopies had provided her the best hiding places.

Elite Si was as solid as one of those sentry trees, being both very tall and amazingly wide throughout his entire body. He wasn't overweight - no Elite were - he was just plain bigger than any non-Glisi male she'd seen before. However, she knew from seeing him fight that he could move ridiculously fast. It really shouldn't be possible for a man that big to move that fast, but then again he was Athosian. It was a rather clichéd belief that Athosians were more agile and able to run faster than most people, though Seeal had met several exceedingly lazy and slow Athosians in her time, but Si appeared to fulfil the cliché. Along with his Seeker ability, there was no question why the Elite had picked him to become a Recruit.

His dark bald head and the twisting darker tattoos spiralling around his bare forearms, along with the mass of weaponry he always seemed to wear, created a very formidable presence. He was not a male that you wanted to fight against, and though she'd been on the receiving end of his interrogation back when she had been a prisoner on the Sythus, she'd not had to fight him properly outside of the training game on the Sythus.

Yet, despite all of those characteristics, he had a very handsome and kind face, and his presence was almost...soothing. It was a strange sensation to sit with him and be on the receiving end of his dark watchful eyes. He didn't glare like Oneakka or stare angrily like Elite Seifer, but instead he just looked. She could respect a steady direct nature like that.

Except, it was very clear that the subject of Saoka was not so soothing for Si. It wasn't the first time they'd talked about Saoka, but it was the first time that Si had approached her and asked directly about what was presumably a close friendship with Saoka.

Or possibly a sexual relationship, Seeal hadn't been able to tell from their conversation. She wondered if Oneakka would tell her the story behind Si and Saoka's 'friendship' if she asked him. Or maybe Massa would be more likely to tell her.

Either way, Si had appeared pretty disturbed by his reluctant acceptance that Saoka wasn't the clean preened businessman who had long given up his less civil days. Si had clearly avoided actually finding out for himself.

In her former days, she would simply have hacked into a computer database to investigate questions she had about people, but obviously Si wouldn't need to do that.

And she'd promised not to hack into anything again...even if the compulsion had been rather overwhelming lately.

The urge to find out about the woman Pampata had itched at her since she'd met the female. The woman had mentioned that she lived somewhere called 'Mil Hub', which Seeal had identified through a simple database search to be a large military run space-station deep in Alliance territory. Seeal was almost certain that Pampata wasn't military, so she was probably a civilian employed there. Perhaps an engineer or manager. Seeal certainly imagined that males fell over themselves to follow through Pampata's orders if that was the case.

Mil Hub was apparently available for civilians to visit if they were associated military staff or family... And as Seeal was an employee of the Elite, she could easily visit the station if she wanted... Maybe use a station terminal to hack into the station's database and find out everything she could about Pampata. She'd done it plenty of times in the past on various Alliance worlds and stations without getting caught.

But that would be _wrong_.

It _was_ wrong.

She repeated the mantra in her head several times.

She wasn't like that anymore.

Besides, she didn't _need_ to know anything about the woman.

It was just because she was curious, that was all. So Oneakka had a female and hadn't told her about it; that was his own personal business.

None of her business.

It had certainly made things easier around Oneakka. She was free to just relax around him again. He had a female, so she could just speak her mind freely and stamp down those silly little feelings. It didn't mean anything anymore.

He'd been pretty chatty of late actually, probably because he was off the stronger drugs and was no doubt bored stuck in his sickbed. Occasionally she caught sight of hints of 'the grump' that Halling kept warning her about, but so far Oneakka had been perfectly pleasant to be around. The occasional little grumpy frowns were usually only when he couldn't reach something for himself or after winces of pain at moving around too much on his bed, but that was understandable. She just ignored the frowns and kept telling him about the pit fights.

He seemed very interested in the whole set up of the fights. He'd also less than subtly dropped the fact that he knew some of her fight statistics, which he'd presumably gotten from that crab-of-a-dirt-weasel Robiah.

She wasn't all that proud of having been part of the violence of pit fighting, but it had been a changing point in her life, providing her with the first currency she'd been able to earn herself in her youth. That said, she was a little bit proud about her fight record. She had rarely lost and her trainer had been one of the best in the business, so she'd learnt a lot. Sure she hadn't seen any of the real wealth that the gamblers and fight runners had won from her victories, but she'd gotten enough currency or prizes to trade for food and decent clothes for her and Ulfur. Well, except for what Ulfur had stolen for his gambling debts and drugs.

Those years had taught her more than she could possibly measure and had refined the skills she had needed to eventually run Dreamstation security. Perhaps those weren't the most pleasant of skills to have to learn, but they had kept her alive a hell of a lot longer than most other street kids. Though they had been useful years, ultimately the pit fights had been a series of brutal life lessons, which, unfortunately, some fighters never survived.

Still, it had been kind of nostalgic to relive the memories with the distance of time, describing the layouts of the places, describing the few rules and how the fighters had been selected. Oneakka certainly had plenty of questions, picking up on the weirdest things like asking how they lit the underground locations, who had cleaned up the blood afterwards, and how the lists of fights had been drawn up.

It was good that they could talk about things now that didn't have anything to do with her keeping out of trouble or him ordering her around. Instead, the tables had turned a little and she was the one telling him not to overdo the reaching for things, and before she left each evening she reminded him firmly that he had to do what the Healers told him or he wouldn't recover properly. It was a statement that both Halling and Massa also repeated to him daily, and each time Oneakka rolled his eyes dramatically but always nodded silently.

For now.

She blinked out at the canteen, realising she had let her thoughts wander into the cloud that was the subject of Oneakka. She was thinking about him a lot lately. That and finding out about Pampata.

It was just that she had thought they were good friends now and that he would have told her that he had a female. It was odd to think that he might have that side to him, and what kind of female he was interested in.

She was drifting into the Oneakka cloud again, so she dropped her attention back down to the project work she'd been running through before Si had arrived. What had she been doing again?

She tapped awake her main pad and several messages jumped up marked as urgent.

They were from Neligan, the Hydroponics Bay Gardener, and the animal specialist!

Belka was in labour!

Seeal scrabbled up her things, roughly stacking the pads up on her arm, threw her jacket over her shoulder, and picked up her long emptied food tray with her free hand. Scurrying across the canteen as quickly as she could risk, she got the tray to the disposal area and just left it there. Someone would clean it away for her today, because she needed to go.

As she quickly rushed out of the canteen, she rearranged the sliding stack of pads so her main one was on top. She quickly typed a rough text link through to the 'vigil team', as Halling had labelled the group. Oneakka hated the name. She explained that she was headed to Belka and had no idea how long she'd be there and might not make it to her shift this evening.

As she rounded corners quickly, Recruits wisely getting out of her way, she reached her quarters and had to rearrange the pile of pads onto her other arm so she could wave her left wrist over the door's sensor. Rushing inside, she dumped the pile of pads and jacket and quickly changed into an outfit she had designated for this event: clothes that she didn't mind getting baby goat crap on. She tugged on a thicker jacket in case she was going to end up in the Hydroponics Bay through the night, and saw her pad light up.

Halling had replied that he was free to sit with Oneakka this evening.

In response, Oneakka had sent a message stating that he didn't need someone to sit with him all the time.

Seeal ignored that and replied to Halling that she would cover one of his shifts another day in return.

She shutdown the larger work pad and picked up a smaller, more portable one that would still talk to the Facility's system and woke it up. Another message had already come through from Neligan – the first baby goat had been born already.

Seeal shoved the pad into a jacket pocket and raced out.

It took her the shortest time ever to reach the entrance to the Facility's Hydroponics Bay, and the large glass doors opened far slower than usual today. She ran the route through the waving stacks of flowers and grasses, through a small tree forest and the small field of growing vegetables, and through to the open grass fields. Belka's little hut was off to the left, now with a small enclosure built around it, which the animal specialist had suggested to help contain the new babies.

As the hut came into view, she could already see a collection of gardeners lined up along one side of the enclosure, all leaning on the outer fence and watching what was going on inside. She hurried around behind their backs, heading for the gate in the fence that led into the enclosure around Belka's hut. As she pulled open the gate, she could already see that Neligan and the animal specialist's backsides were sticking out of the hut's entrance.

"What's happening?" She asked hurried as she dropped to her knees on the thick soft straw and crawled in to join them, squeezing in between the shoulders of the two males.

To find two tiny baby goats immediately in front of her lying on the straw.

"Number three is already on the way," Neligan reported with a bright grin on her left as he worked a towel gently over one of the tiny little goatlings.

Seeal stared down at the little babies, the two pairs of yellow eyes looking rather confused and dazed, and their coats were all damp and gooey. Both were mottled black and white, had tiny little ears that were at funny little confused angles, and had little round flat stumps where their horns would eventually grow.

They were so ridiculously cute that they stole Seeal's breath for a few seconds, only for her to realise what Nelgian had just said.

"Number three already?" She asked him as she lifted her attention up towards Belka who was stood in the centre of the hut and was letting out a low grunting sound.

"She's having them remarkably fast," the animal specialist reported as he crawled forward, moving with Belka so he could keep close to her back end.

"That's okay right?" Seeal checked as she reached towards the large stack of clean towels she had supplied for this very event.

"The details of her hybrid species are unknown," the specialist replied as he crawled around the turning Belka. "As I have previously mentioned."

Seeal frowned at the annoying man, but turned her attention to wiping her towel gently over the second little baby in front of her.

"Both these little males are very healthy," Neligan supplied far more helpfully as he scratched the ears of the little goatling under his care. The little male goat looked like he was trying to get his legs working, probably instinctively driven to stand up and start walking as soon as it could.

"They're _so_ cute," Seeal found herself saying and Neligan grinned at her.

Belka let out another grunt, which became a long low groan. Seeal frowned up from the babies in time to see a very visible ripple pass along Belka's wide belly. That did not look comfortable.

"Number three is here," the specialist announced from the back corner of the hut and Seeal craned her neck around Belka to see a tiny wet bundle in the specialist's hands as he laid it on the straw. He pulled a thin membrane away from the clearly wiggling mass of fur and legs, and Belka turned and dropped her nose immediately to her latest baby.

Seeal reached for a fresh towel and crawled further into the hut, watching as the specialist ran through various checks of the new goatling, working around Belka's licking it clean.

"Another male and healthy," the specialist reported, lifting the new baby up and round. Seeal reached forward with the towel to take the baby and its gentle little weight settled into the towel.

Crawling back a fraction, Seeal sat back on her heels and settled the little baby on her lap. Like its brothers, it was small, but it was already wiggling with clear strength, and its little dazed eyes lifted up to her. The urge to cry was instant and stupid, so Seeal quickly crushed the impulse and focused on wiping down the little one. This one was also mottled black and white, but had a few splodges of ginger scattered through its damp coat. As Belka's nose arrived to help with the clean up, Seeal reached up to stroke the new mother's neck.

"You're doing so well, Belka," Seeal assured her, aware that Belka felt far warmer than usual and slightly damp, presumably from the sweat produced in having to push out all these babies.

Happy the baby was mostly clean, Seeal laid him down on the straw under Belka's care and looked round to the other two. All three were letting out sweet little calls and Belka replied back around her cleaning of her latest boy.

"We're halfway there already," Neligan grinned at her. One of the first boys had managed to stand, only to tumble down into the straw. With a gentle chuckle and soft words, Neligan encouraged the little boy back up to his feet. Neligan had taken on his new duties in caring for Belka with cheerful excitement, clearly caring for Belka, which was certainly far more than the animal specialist had done.

"The latest boy looks the closest of Belka's colouring," Neligan noted.

"He's _so_ cute," Seeal found herself replying, which she was pretty sure she'd said already. They were just so adorable.

In front of Neligan, the first little boy was once again up on his legs and started stumbling forward. "You can do it little one," Neligan uttered as he carefully adjusted the boy's direction. The second baby was now wobbling up to a stand too, looking like it was real hard work.

Belka's mouth was abruptly on Seeal's hair, licking at her now. Seeal assumed it was a sign of affection and reached out to stroke Belka's warm coat again, while definitely not thinking about the goat saliva and birth products Belka might be leaving in her hair.

"Your boys are so cute, Belka," Seeal told her. "Yes, they are."

She just wished Oneakka could have been here. She had no doubt he was the kind of man who would have been in here helping, Belka being his after all. But Seeal was suddenly very grateful that she had gotten to be here instead, that she'd gotten to witness this.

Belka abruptly removed her nose from Seeal's hair and let out a new long deep groan and started moving away.

"She's having them very fast," the animal specialist muttered again as he crawled around in the hut, trying to keep level with Belka's backside.

Seeal watched as Belka's belly rippled again and the poor mother goat let out another low grunt of pain, visibly straining with her entire body.

"Might be the wild ancestry," one of the watching gardeners suggested from outside the entrance. "Any way to know if the father was another hybrid or a wild goat?"

"They have the mother's soft toes," the specialist replied, "so I suspect the father wasn't a fully domesticated Belkan goat."

Belka let out a loud part bleat/part groan and Seeal watched in sympathy as Belka strained hard. After another push, Seeal saw the latest baby abruptly emerge from below Belka's tail, the latest bundle dropping into the specialist's waiting gloved hands.

Seeal twisted round to reach for a new clean towel, but it was a little too far to reach with two baby goats now stumbling around and one wobbling to its feet at Seeal's knees. Neligan was ahead of her though and reached for a towel for her and handed it across to her.

"Thank you, Neligan," Seeal smiled at the equally smiling man as she turned back towards Belka, only the third little boy briefly fell against her knees. Seeal paused to assist the little boy back to the straw, taking a moment to gently scratch across the soft fluffy top of his little head. He was so sweet!

"This one is a female and healthy," the specialist announced and Seeal rose up on her knees and reached towards him with the towel. He placed the little girl quickly into the towel and turned back to Belka.

The little girl was wiggling harder than the last one, working her little legs like she was running from something, but as Seeal set her in the straw next to her brother, the little girl settled. She was a mottled mix of all Belka's colours; black, white and ginger all together, making her the closest copy to Belka so far.

Belka groaned again, loudly panting now as she turned in the centre of the hut. Was she having number five already?

"I've never known a creature to have multiples _so_ quickly," the specialist muttered as he crawled around behind Belka again, constantly moving to keep up with her.

Seeal had planned to likely have to spend all afternoon and night in here to be with Belka through the birth, but it looked like everyone was going to be born within the hour!

Belka grunted loudly, but it sounded weaker this time and Seeal frowned worriedly towards poor Belka's lowered head.

"Number five," the specialist reported though and Seeal let out a sigh of relief.

"So fast," Neligan commented as he reached for a new towel. With Belka's head turned directly towards Seeal again, the specialist now lowered the latest baby into the straw closer to Neligan. Leaving him to see to the latest baby, Seeal quickly set about finishing cleaning up the sole little girl.

"Another male," the specialist announced, "and healthy."

"That's four males to one female," someone said from the viewing group outside. "Males are winning," he announced happily.

"Shut up," a female voice told him and they all laughed.

Seeal lifted her attention from the baby girl to see Neligan being handed the latest boy, who appeared to be almost entirely ginger. Neligan laid him in the straw near his now fully walking brothers, and started cleaning him down.

"I think you should call this one 'Red'," Neligan told her with a grin as he worked.

"Sounds a good name," Seeal agreed. Boy number three was now on his feet in front of her and stumbling forward, aiming for his brothers. None of them appeared to know where they were going, presumably they were searching for milk, but they clearly hadn't zeroed in on Belka yet.

Belka called to the babies as she settled down to the straw, her calls low and sounding weaker now. She was definitely looking tired and was still panting.

"Is Belka okay?" Seeal asked the specialist.

"It's a normal response," he replied offhandedly.

If there were anymore goats to be born in the future, Seeal was going to recommend to Oneakka that this man not be involved. He was clearly very good at his job, but he was not reassuring and in anyway informative.

"To be panting like this?" Seeal pushed.

"Yes," he replied. "She's working hard."

Well that was certainly true, but Seeal frowned worriedly at Belka. The first little boy had managed to locate Belka and was now touching his tiny nose to hers.

Neligan crawled closer, settling little Red down in front of Belka and she turned her attention to licking the latest little baby and the little girl. Leaning forward, Seeal got her first proper look at Red, who was indeed mostly orange, but had some little black splodges doted sporadically across his coat. She reached in and scratched around his little ears.

The urge to cry again rushed up in her throat. She'd seen animals being born in the busy trading towns when she lived on the streets, some animal mothers even birthing in the market pens, but she'd never been this close or felt so attached to newborn animals before.

Neligan stroked Belka's neck and closest shoulder. "You are a very strong girl," he told her.

"She looks really tired," Seeal worried to Neligan.

"We would be too," he replied with a close lipped smile. The smile told Seeal that he was being reassuring for her, but that he was worried too.

"She'll be okay," Seeal told him firmly.

He nodded and then reached down to help steady the lone little girl who had now gotten her little legs working.

"This last one is later than the rest," the specialist announced from across the hut, his tone catching Seeal's instant attention far more than his words. He was worried now. "Can someone pass me my scanner?" He called towards the hut's entrance.

Neligan crawled backwards and a hand from outside passed him the piece of tech, which Neligan passed over Belka's back to the specialist.

A bump against Seeal's knee drew her attention down to Red who was trying to stand up, but he hadn't quite gotten his coordination working yet. Belka was still licking at his back, which seemed to be throwing him off balance, but she seemed determined to clean him thoroughly.

The hut was filled with the baby goat calls and Belka's tired sounding responses, but it was the specialist's silence that worried Seeal. She watched as he ran the scanner along Belka's belly. That Belka didn't object, which she had done every single time previously, told Seeal how tired the goat was.

"Anything?" Seeal prompted the man to share his findings.

"Number six is still in there, but hasn't moved along the birth canal properly yet. It's probably the runt of the mix, been in the worst position for nutrients and to be pushed out."

Seeal frowned at him. "But it's still alive, right?"

The man nodded but didn't look up from his scanner.

"Will it stay alive to come out?" Seeal clarified her question and made her tone firmer.

"Maybe," the specialist finally looked at her from inside the dim hut.

Seeal carefully worked to climb around the babies and crawl around Belka's side so she could see the screen of the specialist's scanner and make sure he paid her enough attention.

"What can we do to make sure the babe makes it?" Seeal asked.

The specialist set his scanner down. "I think we should let the others nurse, it may help the contractions," he suggested.

"Right," Seeal nodded and reached around Belka to start moving Red and the little girl round to Belka's udders. Neligan brought the other boys, though it took a little longer, as they had worked out how to move faster already. Soon enough though, all five of the baby goats were at Belka's udders and had started to drink.

And drink with gusto. Seeal couldn't imagine that was comfortable for Belka, but Belka didn't seem to mind. Actually she looked more settled and had stopped panting.

Seeal crawled up by Belka's head and stroked her ears, while Neligan stroked her back. There wasn't much else they could do to help right now.

"What time do we have since the last birth?" The specialist asked Neligan.

"Seven minute count," Neligan frowned.

"How fast were the others born apart?" Seeal asked.

"Barely a three count," Neligan replied with an openly worried grimace.

Seeal frowned worriedly down at the drinking babies. Five out of six was probably a good survival rate for wild animals, but all six was far better.

The specialist suddenly started moving, crawling across the hut to retrieve his medical bag. "I may need to pull it out," he announced, "or if it comes, resus it." He stripped off his gloves and drew on new ones from the bag and then started pulling out several tools.

"As in reach in and pull it out?" Seeal asked, feeling for Belka already.

"Maybe," he replied as he crawled back towards Belka's back end, laying his tools to one side, his bag behind them, and then picked up the scanner again.

Seeal shifted back towards him so she could see the screen.

"It's moved," he announced though. "It's almost there. The nursing is working."

"Do we need to take the babies off her to have it?" Seeal checked.

"No," he replied simply as he frowned down at the screen. "I think it's almost here, but I'm getting reduced life readings from it now."

Seeal realised she was gripping tight fistfuls of the straw in her hands and forced herself to relax.

Belka started shifting and the familiar groan came out of her, but she didn't get up this time. Some of the babies detached from her as a long and very obvious contraction played through Belka's belly.

"I've got it," the specialist announced and Seeal watched as he pulled a noticeably smaller baby goat out of Belka. "It's breathing, but not well."

Seeal watched him quickly lower the little membrane coated goat to the straw, tear the membrane away and then start clearing out the tiny little nose and mouth with a suction tool. Seeal turned to Neligan across Belka, indicating the stack of towels and, without comment, he passed her one.

Looking back to the specialist, Seeal watched as he rubbed the little runt's side, pushing hard, presumably some sort of lung clearing technique.

The baby wasn't moving.

The specialist picked it up, holding it almost upside down and shook it slightly.

Seeal watched a drop of goo drip out of the little still mouth.

And then it wiggled and a tiny little bleat cried out.

Seeal let out a gasp of relief.

"It's breathing," Neligan announced to those outside and there was applause from the gardeners.

Seeal kept her eyes on the runt though as the specialist laid it back on the straw and rubbed its side again, but it was clearly moving. In fact it seemed as if it was trying to fight him off now.

"It's a female," the specialist announced as he reached for the scanner and ran it over the wiggling little goat. Belka was watching, her head practically lying along her own back to watch. The other babies were back to nursing with gusto, oblivious to the adrenaline-filled moment.

"It's small," the specialist reported from the screen. "But its cardiovascular system is working. Breathing is fine now."

The runt let out a long and surprisingly loud cry, to which Belka instantly replied.

"It's okay then?" Seeal asked him.

"It seems fine otherwise," the specialist as he picked up the runt.

Seeal stretched the towel out to receive the goatling, and its smaller weight was obvious as the specialist handed it to her.

Seeal wrapped the runt up in the towel, holding it close to her body as she crawled up to Belka's head and settled the little wriggling bundle on her lap so Belka could reach it.

"We've got the afterbirth arriving last," the specialist reported, but Seeal didn't listen.

They were all here and, as she helped Belka clean off the tiny little runt, she let the tears gather in her eyes.

They were all here, all alive. All safe.

Seeal wiped the corner of the towel over the little runt's face and it lifted its little yellow eyes to her. Its coat was a mottled mix of black, white and ginger, but, right on the very top of its tiny head, there was one massive ginger splodge.

"Hello Splodge," Seeal named her, blinking the tears from her eyes before anyone saw them.

0000  
TBC


	14. One Quiet Night

**DAY 10 – Insight **

**Chapter 14 – One Quiet Night **

There had been a banquet, politicians, small talk, and other boring stuff that had seemingly gone well. After Woolsey and Lorne's team had headed back to Atlantis, there'd been a nice relaxed evening of Athosian tea and chat with Teyla's family around the family dining table.

It had been a very successful day all round, with no one trying to kidnap him even once, but this was what it had all really been about.

As it turned out, the bed that was their wedding gift was super comfy. The mattress was soft but supportive under John's back, the pillows full, the bedding had a lovely fresh flowery smell to it, and the bed-frame barely creaked at all.

Of course it was naked Teyla that truly made it the best place to be.

"So, do you approve of the bed?" She asked softly against his skin, her cheek on his chest and her fingers sliding across his collarbones.

"Oh yeah," John confirmed as he ran both his hands up and down her warm smooth back.

She chuckled against him.

"Of course," he added as he trailed his fingers up the line of her spine, "it'll need real thorough testing."

"I am sure that we can undertake the necessary research," she agreed.

He was the one to chuckle now as he dipped his chin to press his lips to her hair.

She smelt _so_ good.

She felt just right.

He'd been stupidly worried on the way up from the Gate that maybe she might have changed her mind about being back together, but the second he'd spotted her in the lobby of the Governing Complex, her eyes and smile all warm and inviting, he'd been nothing but happy. All those politicians had been easy to talk to, the banquet had been great, and he'd been able to just enjoy the day knowing what was waiting this evening.

When it was just them alone together again.

He drew in her smell again, sliding his hands over her soft skin, and let his eyes drift shut to just enjoy the moment. Her fingers were drawing lazy circles on his chest, her body all up and close, lying partly over him.

This had to be what heaven felt like.

A few memories shifted with that thought. He remembered thinking the same in those moments he'd thought he was dying under Todd's hand, thinking he was on the way out. He'd imagined being back in bed with Teyla, holding her, feeling like he was home. Except with those memories also came the remembered pain and the deep tearing sensation in his chest, right where she was softly caressing him.

The nightmares threatening, he quickly snapped his eyes open again to the soft light of Teyla's bedroom. There was just one sole lamp on beside the bed, and another shining in from his fake bedroom on the other side of the open adjoining doorway.

Everything was fine.

"So," he made himself focus back on her again. "Everything been okay here?" He asked as he held her a little tighter against him.

"The Elite are focused on researching the Skerti alien, though most of my time has focused on the usual politics," she sighed slightly. She didn't sound like she approved all that much.

"You know," he suggested as he gently stroked her hip, "you could always just come live in Atlantis with me permanently."

She laughed lightly against him and rolled back enough to be able to look up at him. "And what would I do in Atlantis?" She asked, her lips wide; they were still swollen from all the kissing.

He lifted his head from her soft deep pillows and pressed his mouth to hers again, tasting her swollen lips again before pulling back. One of her hands lingered in his hair, massaging his scalp before dropping back to his chest.

"Is that all I would do?" She grinned.

"Kisses on tap," he promised.

She chuckled again as she rolled off him, lying on her side alongside him now. He kept his right arm wrapped around her, keeping her up against his side as she reached behind her and drew a pillow behind her head. He enjoyed the free show of her shifting around to get comfortable, the thick Athosian bed-throw having fallen from her shoulders, her breasts soft in the warm lamplight. He gently trailed the fingertips of his free hand down from her collarbones and over her uppermost breast as she settled comfortably up against his side. The bed-throw still off her shoulder, he reached down for its edge and drew it back over her bared skin, tucking her into their warmth. As much as he loved gazing at naked Teyla, he really enjoyed the whole tucked in together under the blankets routine they'd started back in Atlantis.

"And what else could I do in Atlantis?" She asked, her head now propped up on one hand and her pillow.

"You could come on missions with me," he suggested as he slid his hand down her side under the warm covers.

"I am uncertain that Colonel Sumner would agree to that," she smiled. She was tracing large lazy circles over his chest, the memories of the nightmares chased away now as he let himself imagine a life with Teyla living in Atlantis with him permanently. Actually, it wasn't exactly a new fantasy.

"I recon we could convince him," he assured her. "An Elite warrior on one of our teams? He'd be stupid to turn that down." He settled his hand on her waist, only the soft rise of her hip drew his hand onwards and he stroked up over the swell of her side.

"I do not think Colonel Sumner trusts me enough to do so," she replied.

"We could send him to the Alliance," John suddenly thought. "He could work with that Drill Sergeant you had on the Sythus – Curzon? They'd get on like a house on fire."

"A house on fire?" Teyla lifted one elegant eyebrow. "How is that ever a good thing?"

"Exactly," John agreed. "But we'd be free to run missions together."

She smiled down at her hand on his chest, her fingers lifting to the rounded edges of her nails so her circles started on that teasing line between being ticklish but also kind of nice. "I think that we would find each other rather distracting on missions."

"We've done it before," he disagreed. "We'd be the best team," he assured her with a wink.

She grinned, her teeth bright between those full lips, all tempting.

She was getting a certain look in her eye that told him she was about ready for round two of thoroughly testing out the bed.

"Have your duties changed now that you have been promoted?" She asked though.

"Um," he blinked to try and focus on his answer and not the sweet swell of her backside cupped between his hand, or her teasing circles that had drifted a little lower to his stomach. Her leg edged a little further over his. "Maybe. They want to send me back to Earth at some point for some ambassador training, whatever that means."

"Because they see your value," Teyla stated, sounding all proud of him.

He grinned at her. "You know there's a lot of people who never expected me to get past Captain."

"You have mentioned that several times," she smiled. "They were _very_ wrong."

"Sure were," John lifted his chin with pretend smugness and she chuckled.

"Do the Elite have ranks?" The question occurred to him.

"Only four," she replied, her eyes on his stomach where she ran wide circles. "Recruit, New Graduate, Elite Warrior, and Retired Elite Warrior."

"How long do you stay a New Graduate before you become a fully fledged Elite Warrior?" He asked as he started up his own teasing circles across her lower back.

"Officially after your first hand-to-hand battle with the Wraith, but most consider it to be your first Queen kill to be the real marker," she answered.

"Who gets to decide?"

"Becoming a New Graduate occurs when you officially graduate from Recruit training and start on battle rotation, but, for the further ranks, we decide ourselves," she replied.

"So you can just choose to become a black belt by yourself?" John frowned.

"A black belt?" She mused with a questioning frown.

"It's like the highest level of martial arts," John explained.

"I see," she nodded.

She'd stopped her circles and her palm was now flat against his chest. He swore he could feel his heart beating up against it with anticipation.

"Do you approve of our shared quarters?" She asked, her tone sultry though her question seemed more domestic.

"Definitely," he agreed. Not that he really cared. The quarters could be a shipping container or a cupboard for all he cared – just as long as it was the two of them, all tucked up naked together.

"Are you willing to stay in this bed with me all night?" She asked next. Yep, she was definitely teasing him now.

"Oh yeah," he confirmed, letting his gaze wander down her throat to where the bed-throw had shifted off her bare shoulder again.

She grinned and he felt her lean a little more of her weight against him. "Your people may look for you in the night," she considered.

"The adjoining door is open," he disregarded the issue as he reached over and slid his left hand over her hip, both his hands on her now.

"They may know you did not sleep in your own bed tonight," she considered next, but he could tell she wasn't really worried. He kept his hands sliding over her hip and as much of her backside that he could reach.

"It's okay," he assured her. "I made sure the bed looked slept in before I came in here." When he'd sorted through his things and pulled out his bed clothes for tonight, all before joining Teyla in here, he'd laid down on the fake bed and rolled around a bit. He'd crushed the pillows and pulled the covers to one side to complete the whole look.

"Did you now?" Teyla arched an eyebrow, but she was moving, sliding herself over him. He kept his hands on her backside as she pressed her front to his, her legs parting around his hips.

Oh yeah.

"We have three nights here together," she noted as she folded her hands on his chest and settled her chin on them. He tightened his hold of her backside, just the way she liked, and she rocked her pelvis in his grip.

"And then a further night alone together in my quarters in the Facility," she added.

He was losing the ability to process what she was saying, focusing only on her full lips, then down the shadows of her tattooed throat to where he could feel the pinpoints of her nipples move against his skin.

"We should probably pace ourselves," she considered.

He'd started sliding one hand round the base of her backside, reaching down between her legs, seeking out her parted wet flesh.

"Sounds a good plan," he breathed as his fingertips found her, finding her still swollen and ready from the last round.

She breathed loudly as she lifted her breasts from his chest, her palms settling on him to push herself upright. It made his fingers lose their place, but he quickly drew his hands over her thighs as she sat up, straddling him. The bed-throw dropped away from her, bunching around their hips, leaving her naked above him in the lamplight.

"I would not want you to wear yourself out," she teased as he slid one hand down and under her.

"Not going to be a problem," he promised as he parted her sweet wet flesh, staring up at her gorgeous breasts, her golden skin, and her dark smiling eyes.

"Still, I think you should just lay back, Husband," she smiled, "and let me take care of you."

"It has been a difficult day," John pretended. "Full of politics and other _hard_ stuff," he added as he slid two fingers slowly up into her.

He watched her lips part as she sighed with pleasure and started leaning down, her warm shadow cutting off the lamplight as her mouth lowered down to his.

"God, I love politics," John whispered before their lips met.

00000

The opportunity Halling had been seeking had arrived far sooner than he'd anticipated. Covering Seeal's evening shift would hopefully provide a quieter and more intimate time of day to broach the important discussion with Oneakka.

He'd had to leave Oneakka for a few hours this afternoon, heading out to complete some link discussions and a short meeting that he'd originally scheduled for the early evening. Through it all, he'd gone through in his head how best to approach the subject of whatever it was that seemed to be haunting his friend. Ultimately, he'd decided to use an approach that Oneakka had used on him not too long ago, and which would hopefully allow Oneakka the opportunity to share what it was that was bothering him.

Or he may not. The discussion about Seeal certainly hadn't gone the way Halling had hoped, but hopefully this discussion would fare better.

Once he'd returned to Oneakka's room following his meeting, all the day's guests gone and the Surgical Healing Bay lit in its lower evening lighting, Halling had left his things on Oneakka's side table and left ostensibly to use the bathroom. He had instead used the time to ask the Healing Bay staff to leave him and Oneakka alone for a set time. The Staff were more than used to such requests for medical conversations, personal matters and even confidential Elite military discussions to be held around patient beds. To them it was a standard request that was greeted with a simple nod and a recording down of the length of time that Oneakka was to be left alone, and that was it.

The time set aside, Halling headed back through the corridors to Oneakka's door.

He felt no small amount of trepidation about this, not simply because it was a personal matter or that Oneakka might not share anything, but that his worst fears might be confirmed – that Oneakka regretted his survival. If that was the case, Halling would address it head on, but the possibility of it still worried at him.

Never before would he have ever considered having to worry about Oneakka harming himself. Usually Oneakka's sole focus in life was his work – to strive to be the most effective weapon he could against the Wraith. Though one to seemingly be ready to throw himself into ridiculously dangerous situations without apparent concern for himself, Halling knew that, in reality, Oneakka did nothing without thorough consideration first. Of course Oneakka's interpretation of 'thorough consideration' did not always match everyone else's version of a full assessment, but Oneakka had never been a man to act without deliberation. However, now Halling had begun to worry whether Oneakka's usual blasé approach to danger might have been concealing a death-wish. Could what Oneakka had displayed as bravery and determination before now actually be rooted in a lack of interest in his own survival?

Considering what Oneakka had gone through, what he'd lost, it was psychologically possible, but Halling had never considered it until now.

He had reached the window into Oneakka's room, so Halling paused and peered inside, seeking out evidence again of that elusive depressive edge to his friend's mood. However, Oneakka was instead looking at his computer pad. The head of his bed was a fraction higher today and he appeared to be in a slightly sleepy and relaxed mood this evening.

Halling almost regretted ruining his friend's good mood.

Perhaps he should have this discussion another day...

Now he was the one trying to avoid the issue.

Aware that he'd let his attention drift to the floor in front of his boots, Halling looked back up and into Oneakka's room, to see that Oneakka had spotted him and was frowning at him through the window. Halling forced himself to smile back and moved forward again, turning into Oneakka's open doorway.

"Something happen?" Oneakka asked the second Halling entered.

"No," Halling assured him quickly. "I was just thinking," he dismissed his own expression that Oneakka must have seen. Halling paused somewhat awkwardly just inside the doorway, inwardly debating whether he had any right to ruin Oneakka's evening, only his attention was caught by the picture of a baby goat on Oneakka's pad. "You've seen the latest goat pictures from Seeal?" He leapt at the subject matter.

"She's just sent some more through," Oneakka replied as he tapped the pad's screen to bring up another picture of several baby goats. "She's still in there with Belka and the babies. Probably going to sleep the night in there worrying about the runt."

"Has it regressed?" Halling checked.

"No, she's just worrying over it," Oneakka looked up from the latest picture. "It looks like it's running around with the others easy enough."

Halling nodded. Belka's youngest babe was alright then.

No excuses.

"How are you feeling?" Halling asked.

"Fine," Oneakka replied, but his eyes had narrowed slightly; he already could tell something was up. Halling guessed his loitering in the doorway was suspicious enough.

"I was hoping to discuss something with you," Halling explained.

"Okay," Oneakka agreed with a slightly confused frown.

Halling took the agreement as the impetus he needed and reached for the controls to the door and triggered it closed, and then started forward, moving around the end of Oneakka's bed towards his usual chair on the far side.

Oneakka's gaze shifted from the closed door and tracked Halling moving around the bed. "What's happened?" Oneakka asked.

"_Nothing_ has happened," Halling repeated again as he reached his seat at Oneakka's left elbow. "I just wanted to have this discuss privately," he explained before briefly glancing at his own computer pad on the side table. No urgent matters had flagged up, so he turned his full attention to Oneakka.

Oneakka was frowning suspiciously back at him, his former sleepiness vanished. The sharper edge to his gaze and the way he spoke testified to the fact that his medication plan had finally shifted away from the more sedating pain killers. Halling made a mental note to check Oneakka's medication plan to update himself as to which stage Meiyo had reached.

"Do you need anything? Water?" Halling checked, realising he had forgotten the usual offer when he had arrived. Often it took a direct question to help Oneakka volunteer the fact that he needed something.

"I can reach it," Oneakka disregarded the question. "What's up?" He pushed as he set his computer pad onto the covers beside him, his entire attention focused on Halling.

"I wanted to speak with you about something personal-" Halling began.

"Is this about Seeal again?" Oneakka interrupted him though, his tone blunt and unyielding.

"No," Halling confirmed quickly. "I gave you my word that I would not bring that subject up again."

"Good," Oneakka nodded, though he looked a little confused now. Clearly he'd assumed that any 'personal' discussions would only be about Seeal, which suggested to Halling that the matter was far from resolved in Oneakka's mind. But that particular thorny issue was not the one to focus on right now.

Halling considered Oneakka seriously, while Oneakka frowned back with obvious curiosity.

"You recall when you visited me on the Sythus, when Nalla called you out of the Military Celebration to speak to me?" Halling began, hoping his approach would work. Oneakka nodded. "You sat down opposite me and you confronted the issue head on. You reminded me that I could trust you with _anything_,"

Halling felt the subtle shift of emotion in his chest that he always felt when recalling the moment that had ended up saving his life. He was so grateful to both Oneakka and Nalla for having pushed him into revealing Sitayi' prediction and his fears, and he was determined to do the same for Oneakka if needed.

"Has Sitayi made another prediction?" Oneakka asked worriedly.

"No, no," Halling quickly confirmed and Oneakka let out an obvious breath of relief. "I just," Halling considered his words carefully, "...you and Nalla saw that something was wrong and you pushed me talk about it. I was too stubborn and too...afraid to share my fears and what I was hiding."

Oneakka didn't move or respond in any way, but a strange new stillness seemed to settle over him. Halling forged on, looking directly into Oneakka's sharply blue eyes.

"I want you to know, my friend, that what you did for me in asking me to share my burden is something that I am forever grateful for," Halling stated. "And we can both agree that it was _vitally_ important that I did share Sitayi' prediction with you, that it made the difference in the end."

Oneakka nodded, but remained unusually silent, which told Halling that Oneakka understood where this conversation was headed.

"I want you to know that you can share anything that is troubling you," Halling told him. "Just as you asked me to trust you with my burden, I ask that you know that you can trust me to do the same for you."

Oneakka broke eye contact, his gaze dropping to the bed and then away to the far wall.

Halling fell silent and waited, sensing that he'd said enough.

"I'm fine," Oneakka stated, but it was a rather weak statement and it didn't sound like Oneakka believed it any more than Halling did. Oneakka reached up to his scalp and briefly scratched at his newly regrowing hair. "It's nothing."

Halling sensed he should keeping waiting, taking his cue again from Oneakka's own book.

Oneakka's cheek twitched as he glanced away to the closed door and then down to his lap as he smoothed out the blanket over his legs.

Halling waited, watching his friend's profile as Oneakka ran through whatever he needed to in his head.

Blue eyes shifted back to Halling and away again. "When I was...," Oneakka began only to pause with a faint shrug as if what he was saying didn't mean much, which was clearly the exact opposite of reality, "unconscious," Oneakka decided on the word. "Between the Hive and waking up here, I..."

Halling realised he was leaning forward, waiting anxiously for the admission of regret he feared.

"...had an experience," Oneakka concluded, his gaze fleetingly meeting Halling's and then dropping away again to where he was still smoothing the blanket over his legs.

Halling blinked, surprised. Of all his theories and suspicions about what was troubling Oneakka, this was not what he'd expected. "What kind of experience?" He asked.

Oneakka's attention focused down on his lap where he had found a slight imperfection in the weave of the blanket and was now picking at it idly. Halling watched as Oneakka's cheek twitched.

"I saw my family," Oneakka said quietly.

Halling froze, surprised at the entirely unexpected revelation. "What happened?" He asked, hearing no small amount of eagerness in his voice.

Oneakka cleared his throat, his attention shifting up from the blanket and then away again. "I was in my father's forge then I was sitting at the edge of the training field just outside our village. I'd used to sneak there after late meals to watch the older children practice wrestling and sparring."

Halling watched as Oneakka's gaze returned to his lap, his fingers picking at the blanket's weave.

"My father sat down beside me," Oneakka continued, his voice even quieter. "He..." Oneakka cleared his throat again and blinked rapidly.

Halling watched in shocked empathy as Oneakka struggled against emotions clearly overwhelming him. Halling had seen Oneakka cry only a few times over the years, but it had only ever been at funeral ceremonies or after the loss of a civilian in horrific circumstances during a culling. Never had Halling seen Oneakka struggle as he was now, emotions visibly fighting through his control.

"He told me," Oneakka continued, his voice tight, "that I wasn't to blame for what happened to our people. He said I didn't need to fight anymore."

Halling had to look away, had to blink hard himself now to keep control of his own emotions.

"Then my mother, my sisters and brothers were on the training field, dancing in the sun," Oneakka continued quietly. "I went and sat in the grass with them, listened to my little sister singing... My brothers and sisters playing. Mother smiling over us-" Oneakka's voice broke off.

Halling returned his watery eyes to Oneakka's profile, forcing himself to remain strong for his friend.

"But it was just a dream. A hallucination," Oneakka concluded, his focus back down on the blanket as he shook his head. "Blood loss. It wasn't real." His eyes then snapped up to Halling. "Don't tell anyone else."

"Of course I won't," Halling promised instantly to Oneakka's tearful raw eyes.

Oneakka nodded and looked away again, clearing his throat faintly again. "It just...it made me miss them again," he said softly.

Halling nodded though Oneakka was not looking at him. It made sense now to Halling, the sense of a weight pressing on Oneakka and the lingering sadness in his eyes when he thought no one was watching him.

Horrific grief unburied anew.

"I'll get over it," Oneakka added, his tone slightly harsh.

Halling frowned at that. "I don't think you're supposed to, Oneakka."

Oneakka looked round.

"Grief like that," Halling held his gaze. "No one expects you to 'get over it'."

"Wallowing achieves nothing," Oneakka argued, but his tone was still low, soft.

"Neither does ignoring it," Halling replied carefully. "Could it be that you've never really allowed yourself to properly grieve for them?" He voiced a long held theory.

Oneakka frowned faintly. "And do what?" He asked. "Cry? Get depressed? What does that do? It won't bring them back, Halling."

Halling paused, considering his answer. "But maybe it would allow you to move on."

"Move on where?" Oneakka asked with an edge of anger in his voice now. "I do everything I can to fight the Wraith and make sure no one else has to go through what I did. There is nowhere else to move on to. It was just a hallucination, old childhood memories mixed together into a dream."

Oneakka looked away again, shaking his head as if also shaking away the emotions he worked to overcome.

"Perhaps," Halling agreed softly.

Maybe Oneakka was correct that it had simply been old memories stitched into a new tale, forced up out of his subconscious. It was no wonder that he had been so sad, forced to relive such beautiful memories and then wake up to a universe without them again.

Of course, were he Athosian, Oneakka might see such an experience differently.

"There is another possible explanation," Halling suggested carefully.

Oneakka's eyes slid into view, looking at Halling out the corners of his eyes. "You're going to go full-Athosian on me, aren't you."

Halling had to smile at Oneakka's correct interpretation and the sudden touch of humour in the emotionally difficult conversation.

"On Athos," Halling told him, "a visitation from your own ancestors is considered the most powerful of visions."

Oneakka sighed. "The dead don't talk, Halling," he stated, but his eyes were painfully sad. Yet, that he had predicted Halling's point said he had already considered that it had been a vision. So Halling ploughed on.

"We do not know for certain if that is true," he argued gently. "We know the Ancestors ascended into a new form of life and my people believe that, when we die, we join the Ancestors there. If Hastos and Sythus returned from that place to live again, and Atlantis say that they have encountered reformed Ancestors before, perhaps others can visit us from there too."

"I don't believe in that, Halling," Oneakka replied, his tone not harsh, but still certain in his belief.

"You do not have to," Halling replied. "On Athos, it is said that if your family have visited you, that they will later send a sign as confirmation that the vision was true."

Oneakka pulled a bemused face. "What kind of sign?"

"It could be anything, but it'll be something that you'll instantly recognise as their sign."

"People see what they want to see, Halling," Oneakka argued.

"No, it will be a very clear sign."

"You're _so_ Athosian," Oneakka muttered as he shook his head, but the faint smile was back. The tears were gone from his eyes and he seemed relaxed again.

And hopefully slightly less burdened in sharing his experience.

"Thank you," Halling replied.

"Wasn't a compliment," Oneakka uttered with old familiar teasing.

"You should be polite to your elders," Halling returned his own side of the banter.

Oneakka let out a faint snort of amusement as he reached for his computer pad again, settling its dark screen back on his lap.

The discussion had gone well and Halling was relieved.

"I could hear you," Oneakka added.

Halling frowned, unsure if he had missed something, perhaps a teasing comment.

Oneakka looked round. "When I was with my family, I could hear you and Seeal talking to me."

Halling felt the relief slide away into the cold fearful memories of that long painful night. "We talked to you for hours."

Oneakka nodded faintly. "I couldn't hear what you were saying, but I could hear your voices on the wind. Calling me back."

Halling swallowed as he worked against the emotion rushing up his throat. All those hours of desperate talking had been real – Oneakka had heard them. "Sitayi told me that you had a choice to make."

Oneakka frowned, clearly surprised at the description. "She did?"

"I wanted to make sure you made the right choice. To stay with us." His voice was tight and abruptly painful, but he worked to hold strong and let Oneakka see the truth.

Oneakka smiled.

Just one last question then; the one that had haunted Halling.

"You don't regret it, do you?" He asked. "Coming back, leaving your family again?"

Oneakka lifted his head, his back straight again as he looked Halling directly in the eye. "Never," Oneakka stated firmly.

Halling nodded and looked away quickly, fighting back the desperate relief from overwhelming him.

Oneakka's hand landed on his arm leant on the edge of the bed. "Soppy old Athosian."

Halling let the laughter push the tears away as he looked back at his friend.

"You're gonna have to be the one to hug me, because I was impaled saving your arse," Oneakka pulled on his arm.

Halling pushed up from his chair and, grinning stupidly now, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Oneakka's shoulders. Lifted away from his pillows as much as he could, Oneakka's arms held tight around Halling's back in turn.

There were so many years of collective hardship, battles, grief, even jealousy and anger shared between them, but there had also been wondrous times of survival, trust, and moments like these.

This was a friendship that Halling valued deep in his soul and he swore he could feel the same in Oneakka's tight hold.

His brother from another world.

00000  
TBC


	15. The Beacon

**Please Note:**  
Well, it has been a long time since I last posted a chapter for this fic, and so much has changed for us all! One of the reasons why I had stopped posting for awhile was due to a series of nasty guest reviews, calling my work "terrible" and criticising aspects of my work. Being that I do this for relaxation and enjoyment around my busy life of two jobs and everything else real life involves, it really affected me. However, it has recently emerged that whoever this person is, or several of them perhaps, has been targeting other fanfic authors and the messages have been getting increasing aggressive towards some authors. Unfortunately because they post as guests, the site can't do anything about them. I am not sure if someone is targeting just JT writers or if this is a wider issue. It seems that, despite the current unifying global situation, some people still prefer to be cruel to others.

Anyway, onto the important stuff. I am sure that many of you reading this will be, like myself, currently in lockdown in your country. I am very fortunate that I can work from home, though doing so brings its own stresses. However, I remain SO grateful for the many key workers who are still out there working on the frontline in dealing with the crisis. I am not able to offer anything so useful, except to hope you are all keeping well and safe. I am sure that many of you, like me, look forward to the day when we can see our work colleagues, friends and family in person again (and it'll be hugs all round), but, until then, we must all do what we can to protect each other. Wishing you all good health and support through these difficult times.

So, back into the Alliance for Day 13 of the story...

00000

**DAY 13 – TRUST **

**Chapter 15 – The Beacon**

Aki grinned brightly, one little fist stuffed into his mouth and saliva coating his hand, lips, chin and the front of every top that Massa dressed him in. The most recent bout of teething appeared to be accelerating and Massa could barely remember what it was like to sleep a whole night through. The Healers had assured him that nothing was wrong, it was simply that Aki appeared to be pushing through more teeth in one go than was standard for babes his age. A check of Iketani' own medical records had confirmed that she had done the same as an infant, displaying accelerated growth from her first days, becoming the tallest and strongest of her entire age group on Vancet. So it seemed that Aki was simply growing like his biological mother and there was nothing of concern.

Massa believed the Healers, but still he worried.

Worry had not been a significant part of his life before Mera's death. As an Elite, he'd grown up with risk being a natural part of his life and he'd gleefully pushed any boundaries placed on him. Even when he had worried for Mera's safety, it had still been with the knowledge that she had been very capable of defending herself and, ultimately, they had both known that their lives would be short.

That logic had made sense back then, but it had in no way helped on that fateful day when his beloved had been taken from him.

And, with her, their unborn babe.

He'd always, perhaps naively, assumed that he'd be the first to be killed, especially as they had discussed her moving off battle rotation once the pregnancy had evolved out of its first months. They had begun planning a life of sharing rotation, alternating between one of them in battle and the other bringing up their child.

And perhaps more children in the future.

He had no doubt that he would have feared constantly for Mera had that life plan come to pass, and she for him, but they had both dedicated their lives to serving the greater mission to save lives by fighting the Wraith.

Even if that meant losing their own.

Except, it had not been a Wraith or a fateful battle accident, it had been a Human who had killed Mera and their child.

All on the orders of Iketani.

She, and her avatars on the Hastos, had destroyed his life. Had ripped his heart out of his chest and forced him to live on without his beloved and the beautiful unlived potential of their child.

Iketani had taken that all from him.

But he had ensured that she paid.

He had stopped the traitor, had halted her deceit and betrayal, but it had not brought back his beloved. It had not healed his heart in anyway, and had instead torn his own Elite career away from him with the damage Iketani' blade had done to his arm. It had all been death, blood, and betrayal from the first of Iketani' acts on the Hastos to when he had struck her down on Milioc Primary.

But he had not been the only victim left behind.

She had abandoned Aki, allowing him to live only to use as blackmail material against his equally traitorous father, High Councillor Telson. Though that biological father lived and was permitted occasional short supervised visits, Aki had been left with no one to love him. No one to defend him against the reality of what his mother had been, that his existence had been intended for nothing more than scheming and betrayal, and that Massa had killed his mother.

It was a burden that Massa knew he would have to one day reveal to his son.

And Aki would have to face what his mother had done, and no doubt plenty of suspicion and resentment from those who might blame him for the sins of his mother.

Both of them had lost family and had heavy stories to one day share and hear, and if Aki wanted to hate him for what he'd done, then Massa would face that day of reckoning.

But until then, Massa had dedicated himself to his new life mission: to support the young. He now spent his days trying to be the best father he could for Aki and in helping train the Elite Recruits. He knew Mera would have liked his mission, would have supported him.

It was just difficult to be without her still.

But Aki helped.

His tiny bright sparkling smiles and absolute innocence was a sweet balm to Massa's soul. Aki had allowed him to smile once more and to enjoy what he could in life again.

And if that required him to constantly worry for his son, then Massa accepted it.

Most Elite would disagree with him, especially after what had happened to Mera, but he had always known and accepted that Love was worth all the pain and burden it placed on you.

He smiled down at Aki and Aki grinned back, dribble pouring out over his lower lip to coat his chin anew. Massa settled Aki into a supported seated position on his lap and lifted the fabric bib and wiped the saliva away.

"Should he be dribbling that much?" Oneakka asked from his bed.

"He's pushing through more teeth," Massa reminded his friend as he dried Aki' chin.

Though Massa would never wish injury on his friends and colleagues, it was nice to have this time sat at Oneakka's bedside each day in the Healing Bay. Though often assigned far apart, he and Oneakka had always kept in close contact over the years. Being approximately the same age, they had entered into the Elite training programme at the same time as children, and Massa had very few memories of his youth that did not include Oneakka. Or Kane, the third part of their old dynamic trio. The three of them had been inseparable from their first days as Recruits through to the day they had all graduated together and went onto battle rotation. Unfortunately, Kane had been killed over ten yearly cycles ago now, and Massa still missed the third part of their trio.

When the days felt dark, Massa could still find some joy from remembering his youth with Kane and Oneakka. The three of them had done everything together, which had often involved some form of trouble. They had never been destructive or aggressive in the way some other Recruits had acted out, but they had become something of an infamous trio among their caregivers and teachers back then. If there was something that shouldn't be attempted because it had been deemed too dangerous, the three of them had done it. They'd climbed the highest training walls and ropes that had been banned from their age group, taught themselves to use the most deadly weapons years before they were officially shown, and had even snuck out to join the older Recruits on long range marathons in atmosphere suits.

There hadn't been a boundary or area of study that the three of them had not conquered, and, as they had grown into their teen years, that focus had also turned towards flirting with the ladies. Kane had been ridiculously handsome, his only rival having been Myrtle when it came to being able to attract female attention, though Oneakka had never had to try all that hard to draw a female eye back then. Massa though, he had focused his flirtation on one particular female.

Mera had been two training years above his, so it had only been when his trio had crashed an older Recruit secret party to flirt, that Massa had properly talked with her for the first time. He'd seen her around the smaller facilities the Elite had used back then, but he'd never talked to her. But during that party, through which she had only lightly flirted with him, he'd fallen completely in love.

It had taken a further year of wooing by being one of her sparring partners, before he'd finally been able to prove to her to take him seriously as a mate. She'd laughed at him for years afterwards that all he had needed to do was to _actually_ say he was interested in her. She had simply thought he had wanted to challenge himself by sparring with older Recruits and hadn't realised she had been his sole focus during training. But, once they had shared their first kiss - the two of them alone in a gym when everyone else had long ago retired to sleep - he had never even glanced at another female. They had been in their mid teen years and life had been good...before the realities of life's brutality had found them.

The first had been when three of their training year had died during a training session, and then the second had been Oneakka's horrific loss of his people, which had transformed Oneakka instantly from a young man of playful determination into a brooding stubborn warrior. Massa and Kane had tried to help as much as they could, but it had been Halling who had turned out to be the one to pull Oneakka out of his depressed anger long enough to remember he had years to go before graduating as an Elite. Oneakka become one of only three Recruits in the history of the Elite who had gained their first Queen's marking before graduating, and the day he'd had that first tattoo applied to his face, along one side of the healed scar down his cheek, it had changed their trio. From that day onwards, the three of them had dedicated their combined focus into becoming not the best for best's sake, but to forge themselves into the warriors they had already known Oneakka to be.

The carefree days of childhood had gone, but Massa had still had Mera to help soften the brutality of that realisation.

But, once they had graduated, the losses had accelerated. Each year had brought more deaths as huge numbers of Elite were killed in the brutal war against the Wraith. And then, seven years after graduating, Kane had been killed while on a seemingly simple mission to clear an old Wraith base, and their trio was broken.

With each loss, Massa had known that, sooner or later, he or Mera would be next. In that knowledge, they had both been determined to live their lives together to the fullest. They had held onto their love even tighter, and, though he still missed his Mera desperately each day, he knew he had shared everything of himself with his beloved. He had held nothing back.

And in those darkest days after losing her, when he had felt as if his very soul had turned into a dead lump of pain, it had been Oneakka who had refused to let him retreat into despair. He'd visited constantly, refusing to let Massa give up on himself. After all, Oneakka knew more than most how to keep going even in the face of absolute desolation.

It had always been that way for their old trio; they had _always_ been there for each other, through the first days of training as children when they desperately missed their families and all through the years of constant demanding training, they had helped push each other to climb that little bit higher, to push the limits just that bit more because the other two were there to help pick you up if you fell.

They had striven to push through everything together and defy expectations, and it had been a bond of vigorous honesty, teasing insults, and a deep unquestioning trust.

There were few that could speak to Oneakka with the frankness Massa enjoyed, but the openness went both ways. Of all his friends and colleagues, Massa trusted Oneakka to always tell him the truth and be there in the rough times when all light seemed lost.

But Massa now had an additional light in his life; a son to care for, to love and protect. It was a duty for which Massa had no previous training and some days he wondered if he was capable, but all it took was a bright little trusting smile from Aki and the world seemed to brighten once more and everything seemed possible again.

After several wipes with the cloth bib, Aki' chin was as dry as it could be right now, so Massa lifted his boy back up in his hands. Aki' little feet tapped down against the top of Massa's lap, instinctively trying to support his own weight.

"He never used to dribble that much," Oneakka muttered again from the bed.

Massa turned his attention to his old and dear friend. "_You_ never used to dribble as much as you do now," he told him.

As expected, Oneakka glared up from his computer pad. "I _don't_ dribble," he objected.

He was just too easy to wind up.

"You do when you sleep," Massa lied. "Your mouth all hanging open and snoring," he bounced Aki in his hands. "It's not pretty."

"You're the one who snores," Oneakka argued.

"I don't snore," Massa argued back, though he had to wonder if he'd ever have a night of sleep long enough again to start snoring.

Oneakka's gaze sharpened on him. "Remember that mission in the escape pod drifting through that asteroid belt, your snores echoed around that tiny pod. Kept us all up."

Massa smiled as he lifted Aki up high and back down to his lap and Aki giggled brightly. "Didn't."

"It was astonishing that the Wraith didn't detect us from that sound alone," Oneakka exaggerated the story.

"Sound doesn't travel in the vacuum of space," Massa corrected him.

"With the sound you made, we certainly tested that theory," Oneakka looked back to his pad. "Ask any of them in that pod."

"Si promised me that I didn't snore that loudly."

"Si would lie to protect your feelings," Oneakka returned with a victorious smile.

Mmm, clearly Oneakka's medication wasn't as strong as last week. A different track was required to win this.

Massa looked briefly down from Oneakka's face to the front of his white Healing Bay issued shirt. "There's dried dribble on your shirt right now."

Oneakka narrowed his eyes, saying he didn't believe the lie, but Massa held his gaze. One of Oneakka's eyelids faintly twitched, no doubt desperate to check his shirt just in case.

"You wouldn't want Seeal to see you with saliva all dried on your clothes," Massa added with a smile.

"Stop it," Oneakka's challenging stare turned instantly into an angry glare and he quickly dropped his attention back to his computer pad to cut off the line of discussion. Except, the grumpy display was interrupted by Oneakka abruptly wincing as a spasm of pain hit from his wound. He was clearly very uncomfortable this morning, but that was most likely due to the fact that he had set the head of the medical bed up so high today that he was practically sitting upright, which clearly had to be putting undue pressure on his wound.

"You're sitting too high," Massa pointed out. He'd made the point several times already this morning, but Oneakka had stubbornly refused to lower the head of his bed.

"I'm fine," Oneakka insisted as he jabbed at his pad's screen. To Massa's experienced eye though, Oneakka's complexion looked paler than normal for him and there was clear tension across his shoulders. Not for the first time was Massa reminded of one of their childhood teachers who had declared to Oneakka once that he would be "forever stubborn". Back then, their trio had thought the comment hilarious and Oneakka had used the phrase for years afterwards almost as a brag. However, now older, Massa could appreciate how accurate the teacher had been in her prediction. Dealing with Oneakka when he was this way was always a challenge and usually it was best to just let Oneakka reach the same conclusion as everyone else in his own time. Until then, distraction was always good.

"I can brush the dried saliva off your shift if you want," Massa suggested to Oneakka's profile.

"Go away," Oneakka returned.

Massa chuckled as he lifted Aki up high again, the little boy giggling brightly as he kicked his legs in the air.

Oneakka grunted crossly from his bed as Massa lowered Aki back down to his lap. Oneakka was jabbing aggressively at the pad's screen now, a heavy frown creasing his forehead.

"I see 'The Grump' is finally starting," Massa considered out loud.

"The only reason I might be grumpy this morning is because you're here bothering me," Oneakka retaliated.

Massa grinned, knowing full well that Oneakka didn't really mean it. Massa just shook his head and focused down at Aki again, the little boy grinning back in delight. He was at a delightful stage now where just smiling at him made Aki giggle and grin. Massa lifted him high up again, letting Aki hang in the air a little longer this time, his little legs kicking gleefully, and then quickly brought Aki back down to his lap in a big swoop. Aki' happy little noises echoed over Oneakka's loud annoyed grunt.

Being completely fluent in Oneakka's language of various grunts, glares, and sighs, Massa recognised this one as being properly angry.

"What is it?" Massa asked.

"Thing has barely any charge left," Oneakka muttered as he lowered his pad and started looking round towards the side tables. With the head of the bed set so high, he couldn't see the side tables as well and the required twisting motion to look round was a mistake. Oneakka froze, his breath catching as his entire body tensed with a burst of pain. Massa winced in sympathy as he watched Oneakka crush his eyelids closed and ball up his fists against the painful spasm. Massa caught himself breathing slowly along with Oneakka, as if his using the relaxation technique as well might help.

Slowly, Oneakka relaxed, dropping his head forward as he let out a frustrated sigh.

Massa took the chance to try to help again. "If you lower the head of your bed a bit, you'll be more comfortable."

"I just need the charging cable for the pad," Oneakka muttered.

Massa could see the cable in question draped over one corner of the nearest side table. Lowering Aki into a seated position on his lap, Massa leant sideways, snagged the cable and passed it to Oneakka.

"Hmph," Oneakka mumbled a part thank you as he took it and roughly plugged it into his pad.

"You are _definitely_ grumpy this morning," Massa concluded as he settled both his hands around Aki' back. Aki had returned his attention to chewing on his own hands, dribble flowing free once more, unaware of his Uncle Oneakka's pain.

"I'm always grumpy according to you," Oneakka stated.

"Only in comparison to my wit and suave manner," Massa quickly returned.

Oneakka couldn't quite hide the little smirk of a smile that caused, but it was quickly replaced with a contorted expression of pain again. Massa knew from long experience, that once you upset a wound and inflammation kicked in, it would repeatedly repay you for your inattention. Clearly some further distraction would be the best medicine for Oneakka right now.

"I hear you're far more pleasant to be around when Seeal sits with you," Massa commented, watching Oneakka's face.

Oneakka frowned at the pad and remained silent.

"Halling tells me you've been nothing but polite and talkative with Seeal."

"That's a blatant lie," Oneakka finally looked round. "I'm never polite to _anyone_."

"Well that's true enough," Massa agreed and another tiny reluctant smile appeared across Oneakka's pallid face. He shifted against the pillows a fraction, trying to get more comfortable.

"Lower the bed," Massa tried again.

"Go away," Oneakka replied though.

Massa shook his head at his belligerent friend. It was like the man preferred to be in pain.

Aki shifted in his hands, growing bored, so Massa lifted and turned him, sitting Aki so that the boy's back was against his middle. Oneakka's eyes dropped immediately to Aki now the boy was facing him and he smiled at the babe.

"You remember when I had my last significant surgery on my arm?" Massa asked as he reached down into his bag for one of Aki' favourite toys.

Oneakka rolled his eyes and looked away.

"You sat next to me telling me over and over in great detail about what happened to me when we all got drunk on that moonshine Kane found in the older Recruits' dorm room," Massa recounted.

Oneakka smiled. "You threw up so much."

"We were ten yearly cycles old," Massa reminded him as he presented Aki with his bright red fluffy toy.

Oneakka chuckled. "And you fell through that glass table."

"Which you recounted to me in vivid detail while I was recovering from the surgery aesthetic, when you know those drugs make me nauseous enough without you reminding me of past drunken nausea."

"Kept you awake, didn't it?" Oneakka challenged.

"There was no need for me to be kept awake!"

"You were boring to sit with," Oneakka shrugged.

"Because you're a ton of laughs," Massa countered.

Oneakka shifted against his pillows again, his face noticeably paling a fraction.

Massa decided to try one last time. "If you lower the bed, you'll put less pressure on your wound," Massa explained the obvious logic.

"Whatever," Oneakka muttered.

Massa rolled his eyes. Clearly he needed more help here.

He reached back down to the bag of toys and, after setting a new toy up on his lap, he reached down again towards the bag, but instead redirected his reach towards his computer pad lying on the floor out of Oneakka's view. He tapped in a very quick text link and then quickly pulled a further toy out of the bag as cover. Aki, who had been giggling at the slight sideways lean, grabbed at both new toys with a gleeful squeal of excitement.

"Look at grumpy Uncle Oneakka, Aki," Massa said as he bounced his legs and Aki with them. "Don't _you_ think he should lower the head of his bed?" He asked in a playful high-pitched voice and Aki responded with an expected cheerful giggle at the tone.

"See," Massa looked up at Oneakka, "Aki agrees."

"What time is Emmagan bringing Sheppard to the Facility today?" Oneakka asked, bluntly changing the subject.

"Just after midday meal, I believe. I'm hoping to have time to invite them to late meal after my shift, after I take Aki to see the goat young again." Massa leaned forward enough to be able to see Aki' face. "We went to see the goaties yesterday, didn't we?" He asked Aki, who rocked his little head right back to grin up at Massa.

"How are they?" Oneakka asked.

"They are very sweet but bizarrely active. The runt, 'Splodge' as Seeal has named her, is clearly smaller and a little weaker than the others, but she's still doing well."

"Is Belka alright too?" Oneakka asked of the mother goat.

Massa heard his pad vibrate a response message from the floor. "She's fine, seems happy enough with the babes all walking around and under her," he replied as he glanced down to the pad's screen to see the response. Help was on the way.

"Something interesting?" Oneakka asked. He wasn't back to his normal state yet, but the man still didn't miss much.

"I'm helping with the latest Skerti research later," he told Oneakka, which wasn't a lie, but it wasn't what the message had been about.

"Helping with what?" Oneakka frowned. "I didn't see any update on any new developments in the research."

"Halling has been working with Atlantis to obtain some intel from outside our borders. Colonel Carter is sending through a series of scans later today of some areas of the galaxy that their Ancestor scanners can reach."

"Any sign of Skerti activity?" Oneakka asked as he shifted, trying to hide his discomfort now.

"Well, we haven't received the scans yet, so I can't tell you," Massa pointed out the obvious as he spied movement through the window to the corridor outside, which heralded the arrival of Massa's reinforcements.

Wrapping his hands supportively around Aki, who was happily preoccupied with his toys, Massa settled back to enjoy the show.

Seeal stepped into the room through the open doorway. She rarely visited Oneakka in the mornings, her shift to sit with him always in the evenings, so her sudden arrival was clearly a surprise for Oneakka who he snapped his head round towards her with a shocked frown.

Seeal's gaze slid over the surprised Oneakka in a split second and settled on Massa. "What's going on then?" She asked, her tone clipped and efficient. As was always the way with the black-haired Glisi, the bold strength of her character shone through her voice and confident posture.

Massa smiled at her over Oneakka's bed. "Oneakka has set the head of his bed too high today, so that he's in pain and can't get comfortable, but he's refusing to lower the bed," he explained to her.

Seeal's dark eyes turned to Oneakka, her body turning to face him, her hands on her shapely hips. "What?" She demanded of Oneakka. "Why are you being so stupid?"

It was still something of a thrill to witness her talk to Oneakka like this, something that no one in their right mind would even attempt. As much as Massa loved Oneakka, even he wouldn't talk to his friend with such frank criticism. Seeal, however, seemed unbound by any fear or politeness when she spoke to people, delivering statements of fact in a way that somehow managed to just about skirt around sounding patronising or disrespectful. He suspected it was a skill she had learnt from her days as Dreamstation's Security Lead, or perhaps from having to grow up in the shadows of the Glisi giants. Either way, she clearly didn't let Oneakka's appearance and temperament of a volatile and dangerous warrior stop her from speaking her mind plainly to him.

Massa switched his gaze quickly to Oneakka to see what his response would be.

"I'm fine," Oneakka insisted, who had drawn himself up a little taller on the bed and was glaring back at her.

Massa looked back to Seeal.

Seeal shook her head, clearly unimpressed with Oneakka's assurance. "Foolish male," she told him as she moved up alongside Oneakka's bed and reached for the bed's controls for herself. "You know that if you put too much pressure on your wound site," she told him as the head of his bed began to lower, "you'll increase inflammation and slow your healing."

Massa worked really hard not to laugh as he watched Oneakka's silent frowning displeasure as he was lowered back into a more reclined position.

The head of the bed at an angle that Seeal deemed suitable, it stopped and she began pulling out pillows from behind Oneakka and puffing them up for him.

"The pillows are fine," Oneakka objected as he held himself up on one elbow while she started shoving the puffed up pillows back in behind his back and shoulders.

"Explain to me the point of you being uncomfortable," Seeal asked him.

"I was _impaled_," Oneakka told her grumpily, "I'm _always_ uncomfortable."

Seeal shifted one last pillow and then stepped back a fraction from him, her hands returning to her hips. "Better?" She asked, ignoring the impaled comment.

Oneakka leaned back against his newly arranged and softened pillows, shifting faintly into the newly reclined position, still frowning but obviously more relaxed and comfortable.

"Well?" Seeal insisted.

Oneakka made a noise that was somehow both an agreement and a growl of displeasure.

Massa quickly looked down at Aki while he worked to control the urge to grin. Never would he have believed he'd see the day that anyone would treat Oneakka like this and, even more significantly, that Oneakka would go along with it. But then Oneakka didn't yet understand the power a female could have over you when you were besotted with them. Massa and Halling had already noticed over the last week that Oneakka seemed far more willing to go along with a line of argument if it came from Seeal rather than them, which was the reason why Massa had asked for her help now.

And also because of the entertainment value.

The sooner Oneakka surrendered to the obvious the better in Massa's opinion.

"Good," Seeal concluded to Oneakka and Massa lifted his gaze back up to the reluctant couple. "Because I've got to get back to my project work."

Oneakka frowned at her from his reclined position. "I didn't call you in here."

Seeal ignored that bitter comment and turned to face Massa. Massa smiled up at her with grateful thanks. She smiled back at him, which was something she'd been doing far more often over the last few days. Presumably it was because Oneakka was recovering. It was a lovely smile too, brightening up her often intense expression.

He was almost certain that she also had no idea of the power she had over Oneakka, but Massa didn't know her well enough yet to be sure. He also wasn't all that certain of the level of interest she had for Oneakka in return. She clearly cared for him a great deal and the flirtatious bickering the two of them seemed to enjoy always brought a slight flush to her cheeks that Massa hadn't spotted on her when she talked with anyone else. Of course, it could be that she had no interest in Oneakka outside of that playful banter, but Massa remembered Oneakka in his teenage years. If there had been a female that Oneakka had been interested in, he had been ridiculously charming and flirtatious. Of course no one had seen that side of Oneakka in a very long time, not since he'd lost his people and become permanently scarred in more ways than one. However, Massa suspected that if Oneakka got over his stupid denial and actually set his sights on wooing Seeal, then she might be easily convinced.

"Thank you, Seeal," Massa told her.

"Anytime," Seeal replied before returning her full intense attention to Oneakka. "You listen to Massa and be comfortable," she ordered him with a pointed finger.

Massa looked from her pointed finger to Oneakka's scowling returning stare, but Oneakka said nothing in return, which was a level of restraint that he never used with anyone else.

"Good," Seeal replied to Oneakka's silence, which she took to be agreement, and lowered her finger and abruptly smiled at Oneakka.

Massa looked back in time to see Oneakka's almost confused little frown in response to her sudden smile.

"I'll bring you some new pictures and recordings I took of the goatlings later," she told Oneakka. "Splodge is doing much better."

Oneakka's expression shifted suddenly. "You're taking a particular interest in her," he commented and Massa sensed something in that tone which suggested that Oneakka had caught wind of something that he was going to use to his advantage.

"Of course," Seeal shrugged, "she needs extra support."

"The smallest one of the family, set apart from her kind, weaker than the rest?" Oneakka told her with a tone laced with sarcasm. "Wonder why _you're_ taking an interest in her?"

Seeal narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, yes, I know. She's like me and the Glisi. Well, someone has to look out for the _small_ people. That's why I'm looking after _you_."

On that beat, she turned her back instantly to Oneakka and victoriously exited the room before he could say anything else.

Oneakka took a breath as if to reply with a comeback of some sort, but she was already out in the corridor and he had to lean faintly to his right to watch her leave. It was probably the fact that she was now heading away in the public corridor of the Bay that stopped Oneakka from shouting what he'd thought of as a rebuttal, but he appeared to still be watching her leave through the window.

It could probably be argued that he was watching her disappear from view so that he could readjust the bed once she was gone, but Massa secretly suspected it was her back view that was keeping Oneakka's attention.

Pleased and amused at the interaction of the two, and looking forward to telling Halling about it later, Massa waited for Oneakka to remember he and Aki were here.

Oneakka finally settled back against his more comfortably angled bed and looked round at him. "Traitor," he accused bitterly.

Massa just grinned at his friend. "You weren't listening to me. Seeal helps you see reason."

"No, she stomps over it and does what she wants," Oneakka argued grumpily.

"Mmm," Massa considered, "that sounds like someone else I know." He tapped his chin with his fingers. "Who could it possibly be?"

At which point, Aki delivered a perfectly timed giggle.

00000

Teyla had never seen the hallways and the interconnecting lobbies of the Training Facility so decidedly busy as when she arrived with John and Lieutenant Ford. All around her groups of Recruits had apparently all found themselves arriving in the large lobby at the same time, all eyeing up the new arrivals at her side.

This particular lobby was one of the largest from where the largest canteen, the gyms, security centre, and project sections of the Facility could all be accessed, and it appeared an exceedingly popular random location today. From the two mezzanine levels looking down over the lobby from both sides, Recruits were peering over the balustrades with ill-concealed fascination, all whispering between them.

However, they were not the only unexpected arrivals for the somewhat historical event of visitors from another galaxy visiting the Facility, for it seemed that all the Elite currently in the Facility had also all arrived to greet John. She had been rather shocked at the display, since the Elite pridefully placed little importance in 'pomp and ceremony', which was precisely why she had not broadcast the time of her arrival here with John. However, it appeared that word had gotten around and everyone had turned out.

It had been the same at the Portal, as the entire Portal security teams from across all rotations had been stood at attention in their smartly pressed uniforms when Teyla had stepped through the Portal onto the Facility's moon. Maja herself had been with them and had been the first to step forward to greet John with his culture's customary handshake. Maja had then overseen the security checks, John and Lieutenant Ford each willingly handing over their single weapon they had been allowed to bring with them. Maja had checked over the Earth sidearms with obvious intel at play and she had expertly disassembled the weapons, checked their components, and reassembled the weapons in quick fashion. John had nodded his approval at the display as Maja had returned his sidearm to him and Maja had nodded to him in turn, which was a sure seal of approval from her.

Then, though it was customary to use a larger personnel carrier transport craft for the rare occasion that official visitors travelled to the Facility, Teyla had elected to bring John and Lieutenant Ford to the Facility in one of the usual smaller glass-hulled transport crafts. She had predicted that John would enjoy the sights of the trip and the speed of the small craft, and she had been correct. He had been full of questions and had clearly wanted to try piloting the craft himself, while Lieutenant Ford had all but pressed his face up to the glass hull to see everything passing below them. Upon arriving at a docking station and leading the two men from the craft, Teyla had started to notice the suspicious number of Recruits hanging around the docking bay corridors, and as she had led John through the hallways and into this lobby, only more faces had appeared.

It had not been lost on Teyla that a great deal of the whispering had been among the young female Recruits, and, looking at John stood beside her now, she could understand why. He was looking exceedingly handsome in his smart blue official Earth uniform. He had been very careful about it during his stay on Athos, making a show of hanging it up carefully ready for today's visit, while also taking time to show her his new rank insignia displayed on the jacket.

Looking at him now, stood among the all too familiar clean surroundings of the Facility, she felt immensely proud of him. He stood tall and calm, smiling politely to each Elite warrior that stepped forward to greet him, almost all of them offering the Earth handshake. However, it did feel a little strange to see him here, for, though he had become a major part of her life, their interactions had always been either on the Sythus, on Athos, or in Atlantis. Never before had he been here, and very few non-Elite were allowed to visit the Facility, so it felt nice that he was now included in this part of her life as well. When she was not on a mission aboard the Sythus, this Facility was her base of operations, and even though she slept on Athos at such times, she visited and worked from this Facility during her days. Even during this last week while John was staying on Athos, she had several times had to visit the Facility to assist Nalla in urgent work assignments for the Military Council. Yet, on those occasions, she had rather enjoyed leaving each time in the knowledge that John was waiting for her on Athos.

It had been a lovely week with John, spending so much time with him and having him a part of her family. On the few occasions when she had to leave Athos, as Father and Zabetha had to keep attending to their duties in running the Athosian worlds during the days, Rhakshar had stepped in to show John and his people around Tjaru and had taken them to several Bantos competitions. Teyla had returned twice to find John and Rhakshar laughing together over stories or in discussion of Bantos, and it appeared that the two of them had formed a bond, which was pleasing. Of course, once she returned to his side, John spent all his time with her, and it had been a most enjoyable time. They had walked through the snowy streets of Tjaru together, had gone tobogganing down the local hill slopes, had visited markets, seen more Bantos competitions, and then spent the evenings sat in comfortable company with her family. And then the nights had been theirs alone, snuggled up together in the large comfortable bed that was their wedding gift.

It had truly been a wonderful week, and, though she still had one more night with him here in the Facility, she was dreading tomorrow when he would return to his people. They had not yet arranged their next scheduled shared time together, so she was not sure when she would next get to spend so much time with him. So, she was determined to enjoy the rest of today, tonight, and tomorrow morning with him.

Once he was fitted with an Elite beacon of course, for that was the main purpose for his visit to the Facility. She was very much looking forward to the small procedure being completed, as she would then feel far more comfortable about him leaving, knowing that with the beacon frequency she would always be able to find him should something happen to him again.

Glancing at the time displayed on the closest pillar display within the lobby, she saw that they still had plenty of time to reach the Healing Bay for the fitting, so she returned her attention to John.

It was very clear to her that he was actually enjoying meeting all the Elite who were here to greet him, despite all the many assessing eyes on him. He always had a way of presenting himself that appeared casually relaxed and yet never dismissive; a natural charisma which nearly always put people at ease. He appeared in the full of his friendly power today, exchanging pleasantries with a smiling ease that he had never quite achieved with the politicians and traders on Athos. She suspected that he, like her, felt far more at home around military personnel.

Watching him nodding politely and exchanging easy greetings with the Elite with no fear or nervousness, made her feel even more proud of her Husband. She had no doubt that, had she married General Maloo, that her fellow Elite would have taken far less interest. For not only was John from another galaxy and his people uniquely positioned to assist in the war against the Wraith, but they all knew of John's direct involvement and assistance in several missions now on the Sythus. As such, she saw respect in many eyes as they assessed him, though of course some still appeared cautious, yet still curious. That did not appear to faze John though, but perhaps that was due to the fact that the first Elite that John had met had included Si and Oneakka. That he had survived the significant gauntlet of their assessment and approval perhaps made meeting these other Elite less worrisome for him.

Teyla's electronic pad vibrated in her pocket, abruptly distracting her from where Edfu had appeared and was now introducing himself to John.

She drew out her pad and discovered a text link from Massa. Aki was apparently being uncooperative in eating his Midday Meal and Massa sent his apologies for not being present to greet John. However, Massa went on to request to join her and John for Late Meal. She quickly typed a reply that they would be pleased to meet him in the canteen later, and Massa sent an instant acknowledgment back. Of course, John had already met Massa before, but that had been during a very dark time in Massa's life, so she suspected it would be particularly good for Massa to talk with John in a far more positive setting. Or perhaps it was just that she was looking forward to seeing the two sitting and sharing a meal, after all Massa had been very supportive of her choice to marry and had provided her with essential advice on how to adjust to living with love in her life.

John's shoulder shifted closer to hers, a silent communication that she needed to join the conversation. She slid her pad back into her pocket and looked up to see that most of the Elite had dissipated, their interest satisfied and having no further need to stay around.

Edfu was still here though, and was talking with John and Lieutenant Ford about the standard security measures in the Facility. Teyla had already briefed John in detail on the areas of the Facility he was allowed to visit and that she had to be with him all the time that he was here. He had made some rather suggestive remarks about how he felt about that. Teyla quickly blinked away the arousing memories and focused on Edfu as he turned to her.

"Honoured Elite," Edfu bowed his head to her.

"Edfu," she nodded back.

"Honoured Elite Nalla asked me to pass along her greetings as she had to leave for the Military Council meeting a little earlier than expected."

Teyla detected something interesting in that comment. Had there been a new development today? She would make sure to read Nalla's daily report later.

"Thank you, Edfu," Teyla replied simply.

"The Healing Bay report that they are ready to receive Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard for the beacon fitting at your discretion," Edfu smiled in his very affable way.

"We shall proceed there now," Teyla agreed and Edfu nodded to her and John and then headed away. Once Edfu was out of earshot, Teyla turned to John beside her. "Shall we have you tagged?" She asked, repeating a joke that Lieutenants Ford and Cadman had been using for the last few days. Apparently on Earth, scientists studied wildlife by stunning them, tagging them and fitting them with tracking collars before releasing them back into the wild again.

John pulled a face at her. "Very funny," he mused, but she sensed a faint edge of nervousness to him all of a sudden. Was he perhaps a little concerned now regarding the beacon fitting procedure?

"The procedure is very simple and quick," she assured him as she started leading the way down the appropriate corridor off the lobby, a large number of Recruits hurrying away out of the corridor's entrance, seeming now intent on returning to where they actually should be.

"Do they have a giant net they can throw over him first?" Lieutenant Ford joked from behind her and John.

Teyla smiled over her shoulder at the younger man. She had grown rather fond of him. He was clearly very dedicated to protecting John and in serving his people honourably, but he was also clearly a friend of John's and it was clear to Teyla that John appreciated him in return.

John's shoulder brushed against hers. "This place is _cool_," John commented to her, leaning momentarily close to her as they turned into another corridor. She smiled up at him as he returned to a more socially acceptable distance from her. "How much time do you actually spend here?" He asked.

"When I am not on the Sythus," she answered him, "I am here most days."

"So this is kind of like a home for you?" John asked with a handsome smile.

"Yes, it is," she agreed. "Though I usually spend my nights in Tjaru."

John nodded silently, though she spotted a shining look to his eyes on her mention of 'her nights'.

"How many staff live here?" Lieutenant Ford asked.

She considered the answer, not just what the actual figure might be, but also whether she was permitted to disclose it. "A significant number," she replied carefully. "But most Elite are only passing through the Facility. It is our focal centre for missions, security issues, and in meeting with each other."

"Elite HQ," John interpreted.

Teyla angled them down a right-hand turn that would lead to the part of the Healing Bay that was set aside for small medical procedures, which included a dedicated room for beacon fittings. As they turned, the large bag that John held in one hand bumped lightly against her leg and she glanced down at it. Inside the bag was a large thin gift that John had brought with him to give to Oneakka as a 'get well soon' gift. John had explained that this particular gift, hidden from her view by the brightly coloured wrapping paper covering it, was apparently a traditional gift on his world.

"While you are having your beacon fitted, I will check to see if we can visit Oneakka afterwards," she considered as she looked up from the gift.

"You're gonna stick around during the fitting though right?" John asked his voice lowering slightly.

She had to work not to chuckle at him. Her military trained, highly experienced warrior husband was nervous about a tiny implant fitting. "Of course," she reassured him.

"Though if you've got work to do..." John added quickly and overly casually.

"My work is in staying with you," she replied.

John grinned at that, his eyes sparkling down at her in the glowing clean light of the Facility.

Lieutenant Ford made a light cough from behind and John glared over his shoulder at the younger man.

"What?" she heard Lieutenant Ford ask a little too innocently.

The small procedures entrance into Healing Bay was up ahead and it appeared that word of John's arrival had again preceded him, as there was a large gathering of Healers stood outside the entrance. In fact there appeared to be an unusual number of staff working in this part of the Healing Bay today.

As they drew within speaking distance, Healer Meiyo stepped forward from the group and smiled widely. "Greetings, Honoured Elite and Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. I am Healer Meiyo and I shall be undertaking the beacon fitting."

Teyla was a little surprised since Meiyo was considered a very senior Healer to be fitting beacons, which was a basic operation. However, it was probably due to John's political status that she had been elected, or had volunteered, for the role.

"Hi," John smiled back at Meiyo, and this time Teyla definitely heard caution in his voice.

Meiyo smiled warmly at him, and Teyla sensed that the woman too had picked up on the shift of John's mood. "If you would please follow me," Meiyo turned and led the way into the Bay itself, leaving the staring smiling Healers behind them, and into the small room just to the right. The beacon fitting room was very familiar to Teyla, as she had had her own beacons serviced and replaced in here over the last ten years. However, she watched as John looked around the room with cautious interest, taking in the large open-fronted cabinet against one wall that was filled with medical supplies and the beacon fitter tech that stood in the middle of the room, set beside the small lone table.

"Please take a seat there, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard," Meiyo waved John towards the chair on the furthest side of the table before she settled into the chair opposite him.

Teyla walked round to stand at John's shoulder as he sat down, Lieutenant Ford moving around to the far end of the room to stand behind John's back, correctly selecting the most strategic point of the room where he faced the single entrance.

Meiyo picked up a large medical pad. "I have some very basic questions to go through with you before we proceed, would that be alright with you?" She asked John.

"Sure," John replied with a very brief glance up at Teyla. She smiled down at him reassuringly.

"I have received through your medical details from your Healer on Atlantis and it covers almost all I need," Meiyo smiled at him, her relaxed manner clearly the correct approach with John. "I just need to check whether you have had any direct contact with any Wraith or Wraith tech within the last two days."

John glanced up at Teyla again, and she knew exactly what was going through his mind. "Not in the last two days, no," he confirmed for Meiyo, though Meiyo no doubt had details of John's encounter with the strange Wraith that had helped him escape Kolya's clutches.

"Good," Meiyo tapped on the pad. "Have you had any injuries in the last two days?"

"Nope," John replied.

As Meiyo ran through a checklist of questions, Teyla took the moment to pull out her electronic pad and sent a quick text link to Halling. His reply came back almost instantly, starting with an apology for not being there to greet John as he was currently sitting with Oneakka. Teyla typed a reply to tell him it was not necessary to apologise and then asked if Oneakka would welcome a visit from her and John shortly.

"Any skin infections?" Meiyo continued from her list.

Halling's reply vibrated the pad in Teyla's hand. Apparently Oneakka did not mind a visit. However, Halling's last sentence made Teyla smile.

_Warning: The Grump has finally arrived. I suggest it is a quick visit._

It appeared that Oneakka's surprisingly relaxed response to his recent injury had finally faded and his more usual reaction to having to go through recovery had asserted itself.

"If you could place your arm into the device," Meiyo's voice cut through Teyla's smile as she quickly tapped a response to Halling, slid the pad back into her pocket and turned her full attention on John.

He had removed his uniform jacket and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to expose his long lean right forearm. Teyla watched as he settled his arm in the cylindrical base of the beacon fitter and watched as Meiyo reached in with now gloved hands to secure down John's wrist and forearm within the frame of the tech.

John glanced up and Teyla smiled reassuringly at him again, letting him know that all was well. Since the first moment she had suggested it, he had been very willing to have the Elite beacon fitted, though his superiors had had to agree set terms and agreements first, and she felt very grateful for his trust in her.

Meiyo closed the top of the cylindrical frame over John's arm, sealing him into it up to his elbow.

"I'm gonna get my arm back, right?" John joked to Meiyo.

"We might keep it," Meiyo joked back as she tapped some commands into the fitter. It was again the exact right approach with John and Teyla saw him relax his shoulders a little more.

"As your Healer will no doubt have explained the procedure," Meiyo told him, "this device will bore a tiny shelf into the bone of your wrist and then secure the implant into place against the bone."

"Okay," John agreed, his eyes shifting down to his enclosed arm and then away, trying not to appear concerned.

"You will first feel a rush of cold," Meiyo explained and John nodded that he could. "This is the local numbing to the area. Please hold very still," she added as she watched a small screen on the side of the fitter. A small red light lit up on top of the device and Teyla saw John tense slightly, no doubt the tiny drill now through his skin.

"Yeah, that feels weird," John muttered.

"Just drilling the shelf," Meiyo said in that friendly calm voice of hers. "Good. Now the beacon itself is attached."

Teyla watched John's cheek twitch slightly with discomfort.

"And all done," Meiyo announced with a smile. "Just sealing the wound."

"You okay?" Lieutenant Ford asked.

"Just a scratch," John dismissed with a shrug, or as much of a shrug as he could manage with one arm in the fitter.

The device parted and John's arm was once again revealed.

"I will now cover and bandage the wound for you," Meiyo explained as she wiped away the small amount of blood from his wrist with an antiseptic cloth and then reached aside for the dressings.

John leaned forward, Lieutenant Ford doing the same over his shoulder, both peering down at his wrist. A small bright red line was all that was visible on the inner edge of his forearm, an inch or so below the base of his thumb.

"Expect slight swelling around the area for a few days," Meiyo explained as she smeared some fast-healing ointment over the small wound and then started to cover it. "It could be slightly uncomfortable for up to twenty days. If you are going to go into battle within the next few days, I suggest a padded and waterproof covering."

"Okay, sure," John agreed, his shoulders now completely relaxed and he was smiling again.

Meiyo secured the dressing and then reached for a pad. "I will just run a scan of the beacon."

Teyla drew out her pad again as Meiyo ran a sensor pad over John's wrist and there was a satisfying bleep.

Meiyo smiled as she lifted her pad and tapped the screen. "You are now officially registered with the Elite database and I am sharing the frequency with you Honoured Elite Emmagan."

Teyla's pad vibrated with the link to the Elite computer and she downloaded John's beacon frequency onto her pad and into her own personal section of the database. She then set a reminder to herself to ensure she shared the frequency with the Honour Guard when she returned to Athos tomorrow.

A wave of cooling relief passed over her as she lowered the pad, which told her that she had been far more anxious for this moment than she had allowed herself to realise. Too often she had been cursing herself for not having thought of the beacon before John had been taken by Kolya, but, now John was fitted, she had the means to find him wherever he may be in the galaxy.

Even if it was only to find his body.

She blinked away such dark depressing thoughts, though, of course, that had always been the main purpose of the Elite beacons: to enable them to find each other, even if in death.

Sliding her pad quickly back into her pocket, she focused her entire attention on her handsome, and currently safe and secure, Husband as he stood up, watching as he swung his jacket up from the back of his chair, clearly relieved himself that the fitting was over.

"All tagged and ready for release," he grinned to her as he drew on his smart dark blue uniform jacket, his new rank insignia drawing her eye.

The beacon could never ensure that he would not be harmed, but at least it made him a little safer in that he could be found if he was lost again.

Considering the extreme dangers they both faced in their lives, 'a little safer' could mean the difference between life or death.

00000  
TBC


	16. Visitors

**Note:** Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me such encouraging words – I really hadn't expected that from my grumpy venting message on the last chapter. Thank you for your kind words and assurances that it is best to just ignore the naysayers and focus on what gives joy. I am particularly joyful thanks to the fact that it is my birthday (Friday), so please everyone enjoy a piece of cake or bit of chocolate (whatever is your poison) on me.

00000

**DAY 13 – TRUST **

**Chapter 16 – Visitors**

These moments were fast becoming his favourite each day; sitting with the goats in her company.

Neligan had worked as a researcher in Hydroponics science for all his working years, having helped develop and tend the living Bays into glorious new ecosystems on battleships, space stations and here in the Elite Training Facility. Out of all those locations in which he had worked, he preferred this Facility over any of them, not just because it meant he could now live in one place permanently, but also because it no longer required him to live with just a metal hull between him and the cold emptiness of the vacuum of space. It had been his life's work to bring nature and its many benefits to people set out in the depths of space, to bring health and wellbeing to those far from that which sustains all life. Though that work had, and continued to be rewarding, it was nice to now remain in one place, under the influence of natural gravity once again.

Here in the secretly located Training Facility, he had been given almost unlimited resources, support staff, and funding by the Elite to pursue research into improving the Hydroponic Bays and in developing the science of air quality, to advance food production, and to grow more medicinal plants for Healing Bay medications. He was currently overseeing twelve long term studies within this bay and was assisting with peer review for over twice that amount in other Bays. Though Hydroponic science was a highly popular field of study within the Alliance, all those working within it tended to fall into two unique types of people: those with a highly scientific and almost emotionless approach to the work and those at the other end of the scale who were obsessed with plants and tended them like they were members of their actual family. They were two extremes that sometimes struggled to work together. However, Neligan considered himself something of a centralist within those groups and was often involved in peer reviewing projects to help bring some mediation between the two sides. It had led him into a vast network of dedicated scientists, but he had little regular contact with those from outside that sphere. Here in the Facility, the Elite Recruits barely talked to the Gardeners and the Facility staff had their own focus, while the Elite provided support and oversight, but little actual involvement on a day-to-day basis. It meant he was afforded considerable freedom in his work, but he did not meet many other people.

Seeal's arrival had been a breath of fresh air. And a very beautiful breath it was.

She was unlike any female he had met before, which was not that surprising considering her history he supposed, but her devotion to looking after Belka and her young was admirable.

Neligan had long argued the advantages to introducing some mammals to Hydroponic Bays, but had met considerable resistance within the science. Though several specific species of insects were kept in the Bays, and now one species of bird that helped pollinate the fields of Athosian Sweet Grain, he had found little support to actually experiment with mammals. His unusual advocate had been Honoured Elite Oneakka, who had taken great interest in his theories and had then actually provided the first opportunity for the research out of nowhere. It appeared that Honoured Elite Oneakka had purchased the delightful goat Belka whilst he was stationed aboard the Sythus, and had already been in contact with Neligan with initial data from the Sythus' Bay, but upon discovering that Belka was pregnant, Honoured Elite Oneakka had delivered Belka and her young into Neligan's care. So, without any request for funding, space or resources necessary, Neligan had been able to begin the first proper research study on the effect of mammalian life on an established Hydroponic environment.

What Neligan hadn't anticipated was how attached he would become to the lovely goat, and now her young. One of the issues other scientists had had with the concept of introducing mammals was the upkeep requirements and use of Bay resources. After all, insects and birds hardly required direct monitoring and used very little of the Bay's resources. Belka and her young were very different. They currently required constant watch, medical care, and food. However, it was hoped that, with gradual training, the goats would learn what they could and could not eat within the Bay, and be able to follow commands. Tests on Belka's intelligence when she had first arrived here had indicated that she was indeed very intelligent for a farmyard animal, though that had also shown itself in her rather stubborn independence in somehow managing to escape the Bay before she had the young. However, since the birth of the six young, all had remained closely watched and Belka had shown no interest in leaving the Bay. Neligan mused, as he stroked Belka's side, that she certainly had enough to fill her days in the Bay.

Currently, two of the young goatlings were feeding from Belka while she ate her way through the additional food he was supplying her while she was nursing. The kitchen staff had been providing peelings and good quality leftovers for him to feed to her, which normally would have gone to the composting section of the Bay, but now was available for Belka to eat. She seemed very happy with the food, for her head was almost entirely in the bucket now as she ate very tiny little remaining scrap.

Turning his attention from the mother goat, he looked to Seeal sat cross-legged on the grass close to him, the runt goatling, Splodge, settled in her arms. Seeal appeared very emotionally involved in the welfare of the youngest goatling, and had been visiting the Bay now three or four times a day. Neligan was very grateful for her visits, not only to enjoy her company and to share the exploits of the goat family with her, but because she was a very practical assistant. She helped him muck out the goats' hut and small surrounding enclosure, and helped him run the daily health checks of the all the young. The health checks were the part that took up the most time, as catching the goatlings and keeping them still enough to weigh them and scan them was a challenge. They had started to run the checks in the early morning, as the young seemed rather sleepy upon waking and that usually made them more manageable. Neligan had successfully trained Belka to stand on a flat weighing machine, but currently the goatlings could not understand such a thing or voluntarily stand still long enough for that to work.

The only goatling that was easy to handle was Splodge, most likely due to having been handled so much in her first couple of days during which Seeal had worried almost constantly over the runt's survival. Those long first hours held in Seeal's arms had clearly made Splodge far more willing to be handled, and was an interesting point of note in his study. It could mean that, should goats become part of the Bay systems, that they should be handled closely upon birth so that they would bond with Humans more closely. Of course once they became bigger and more trainable, the medical checks would be easier, but until then, each morning would require Seeal's help in lifting each goatling up to be weighed and scanned, and then rewarded with a good scratch and play session. It was very clear that the goatlings enjoyed play, and spent most of their days galloping around Belka, around people's feet, chasing each other across the grassland outside their hut, and attempting to climb anything was even remotely taller than they were. Usually that now involved them climbing up onto him or Seeal at any opportunity, such as if he bent forward to pick something up. He could now quite effectively continue with his work on something even with a baby goat balanced on his back.

Currently, little Beku was jumping from his knee across to Seeal's closest knee and back again, clearly entertained by the game. Seeal didn't react to the leaping goatling either, nor to several more of them that raced a large circle around them and Belka. In fact, Seeal looked rather lost in thought as she sat scratching Splodge's little head. Seeal seemed to particularly enjoy this time of the day in the Bay, when the height of a day's warmth was simulated by the high overhead Bay lighting. She often sat as she was now, face upturned to the warmth glowing down over her. The light had a strange way of glittering over her black hair and, Neligan believed, had started to add a lovely light tan to her already olive-coloured skin.

He had wondered about her skin tone, considering the Glisi apparently lived in a thick permanently snow-covered forest and surely had limited sun exposure. In most occasions, Humans living in cold climates tended to have paler skin to allow greater absorption of important light frequencies from their sun or suns, and the local plant life was usually low growing and adapted with thin leaves. However, Seeal reported that her skin tone was not unusual among the Glisi and that the Glisi forest trees were massive and held their thick canopies of leaves all year round. Apparently there were shrubs growing on the ground level but they were again taller than he would expect, so it had led him to conclude that perhaps the Glisi sun emitted an unusual level of light compared to other solar systems in which life could develop, or perhaps that life on her homeworld had adapted quite uniquely to the cold climate. Clearly the Glisi themselves had adapted to the deadly cold, and Seeal apparently had already provided blood samples for an Elite led research study to look at her genetic material to try to understand how she could withstand the cold so much more effectively than most Humans. However, he found it somewhat amusing that a person adapted to survive in the cold would find the warmest part of the day the most enjoyable, for surely that was not her natural environment. She even carried around a jacket with her most days, which she rarely ever wore, as clearly she did not need it. He suspected it was perhaps something she had done to seem like everyone else who was not a Glisi, or perhaps she really hated the idea of being cold, even though she surely would not be susceptible to it.

She was a fascinating woman all round really, being somehow both extraordinarily bold yet happy to sit in silence alongside him in the Bay. Though, during such quiet moments, he could often see a reflection of sadness in her expressions, especially when she was deep in thought as she was now.

He had heard plenty of stories about her within the Facility, many of them conflicting, but all agreed that she had once been the Security Lead on the infamous criminal space station named Dreamstation, but that she had now dedicated her life to assisting the Elite in fighting the Wraith. Other rumours centred on her background, telling that the Glisi had rejected her because of her normal Human size and that she had been abandoned in the snow to die. Some said that she had then been reared by strange forest creatures, which was why she had become "vicious and wild", while others said she had grown up on a dangerous non-Alliance planet as part of a violent gang.

He struggled to see any sign of such violence in her, especially now as she sat cuddling little Splodge in comfortable silence. Little Splodge was certainly enjoying the attention. Though the runt of the group was smaller and tired far quicker than her siblings, she was medically well and was just simply slightly behind in her development because she was the runt. The Animal Specialist –who had now refused to stay in the Facility so that he could keep some distance from Seeal's "pestering" questions about Splodge's care – was perfectly happy that Splodge was a healthy goat and was developing correctly. Seeal still doted extra attention and, clearly, love on the smallest goat, and Splodge was very willing to curl up on Seeal's lap when she needed a nap from trying to keep up with her siblings. When awake and recharged, Splodge certainly had as much excitable mania as the other goatlings. Currently four of them were racing large circles around the nearby hut, and Beku was still enjoying hopping repeatedly up from the ground to Neligan's lap and back down again. Neligan chuckled as he caught hold of little Beku and the little boy kicked and wiggled to escape. Setting him back on the ground nearer Belka, Neligan scratched down Beku' back and the goatling decided to go pester his mother for awhile by sticking his head into the bucket of kitchen scraps with her. He was still only feeding on her milk, but apparently the urge to try whatever she was eating was already strong.

Neligan ran one hand down Belka's side as she nuzzled Beku' head out of the bucket, and he returned his attention back to Seeal.

There was that faint sense of sadness about her again today, as if something were playing on her mind. If she had been abandoned as a babe, surely that was reason enough for such moments of melancholy. He often toyed with the idea of asking her directly about her youth, but he did not want to invade her privacy.

He'd also thought of asking her to join him for a walk through the flower field to help lift her mood, but worried that she might turn him down, so he'd not said anything.

"Have you ever been to a station called 'Mil Hub'?" Seeal abruptly asked into their companionable silence.

He was rather used to her seemingly random questions, which usually centred around life in the Alliance and the Elite. It was little surprise though, since she had spent most of her life out beyond the border, so he was more than happy to answer her questions about Alliance worlds and history.

"I have," he confirmed to her with a smile, her dark eyes now on him with that bold directness that he found inspiring. "I helped establish the Hydroponics Bay there. We experimented with a new approach to include an aquatic landscape to the Bay there since the station has extensive swimming pools," he explained. "There was a newly discovered type of algae at the time, which we are still researching actually. It is exceptionally successful in removing waterborne toxins and is a good breeding ground for the fish used to help clean the swimming pools and drinking water on the station."

Seeal pulled an expression of faint disgust.

"It's very clean water," he assured her quickly.

"So Mil Hub is a big station?" She asked, her attention shifting over to Belka who had finally finished her food and was approaching Seeal. Beku however was not convinced that his mother had gotten everything and had now knocked over the bucket and had partly inserted himself into it.

"Oh, yes, very big," Neligan confirmed as he reached out and stroked along Belka's side as she dropped her nose to Splodge within Seeal's arms, sniffing at her babe. Splodge opened sleepy golden eyes to look up at her mother.

"So, it's just a military station?" Seeal asked as Belka settled down on the grass beside them.

"Mostly, but it serves as far more than a simple docking station for Military vessels," he explained as he scratched down Belka's back, while quickly confirming that the other four young were still entertaining themselves chasing each other around the hut. "With a working Portal, many off rotation military staff stay there for rest time. There are large leisure and marketing sections of the station, and enough restaurants to feed an entire city. The Hydroponic Bay demands there are the highest than on any other craft, base, or station."

"So those that work there live on the station?"

"I believe many do, particularly the command and engineering staff. Mil Hub requires a great deal of maintenance. I imagine Dreamstation was not all that different?" He enquired carefully.

"It was more the people in it that required maintenance," Seeal replied with a sarcastic smile.

He smiled back, wondering how this lovely woman had managed to live among such horrible people. Though perhaps she was missing life on a space station and that was why she was asking about Mil Hub?

"You're not being reassigned to Mil Hub are you?" He asked worriedly.

"No," Seeal replied firmly as she shook her head. A few strands of her black hair had fallen free earlier when several of the goatlings had jumped on her, and he watched the strands slide against her soft cheek. "I met someone who works there and was just wondering about the place," she shrugged as she lowered her attention to Splodge, who looked like she had now recharged from her nap and was clambering down from Seeal's arms.

Was the person Seeal had met a male?

"Well, I am glad you are not leaving us," Neligan told her.

"I've got too much to do here," Seeal replied as she glanced away as the other four goat young all tore past, all bouncing around with gleeful joy. Beku and Splodge raced to join them, Splodge partly climbing over Belka's head in doing so, but the sleepy mother goat barely reacted. Seeal grinned at the running goatlings as they raced around behind her then round behind him. He chuckled as he watched the goats almost stumble over their strange fluffy toes in their eagerness to run as fast as they possibly could.

"Well, we would all miss you if you left," Neligan looked back to Seeal.

"And the Recruits would have no one to gossip about anymore," Seeal smiled ruefully.

She knew about the rumours then? He wondered if this was a good opportunity to ask her about them.

In particular the one that suggested she was Honoured Elite Oneakka's lover, while others said that she was his indentured servant in payment for her past misdeeds. Though the Elite and Military had now turned their back on keeping slaves, there were stories that some criminals paid off their debts to Alliance society by working as indentured servants. Was that why Seeal was here in the Facility? He knew she worked in one of the Elite Project rooms on some secret work, but perhaps she lived in the Facility against her will. That would explain some of the sadness perhaps.

Or was it that she had been separated from a husband who remained outside the Alliance borders?

Or perhaps she simply felt alienated living here, for clearly the Recruits didn't like her and he had to wonder about how the other Elite staff reacted to her.

"Would it help you to know that you are no longer the most exciting piece of gossip in the Facility?" He asked, hoping to soften the burden for her.

She frowned with curiosity as she reached out to the goatlings as they raced by again. "Oh? Who's hot on the gossip vine now?"

"Well, today it is the arrival of Honoured Elite Emmagan's Husband from Atlantis."

Seeal snapped her head round to him. "Sheppard?"

Neligan was a little thrown at her reaction. "Yes, I believe that is his name."

"He's coming to the Facility? Here today?" Seeal asked with sudden excitement. It lit up her face with a bright light and widened her dark intelligent eyes.

"Yes, he is here now, I believe," Neligan replied with a glance at his timekeeping device.

"Now?!" Seeal repeated as she shot up from the grass, apparently intent to leave.

"Do you know him?" Neligan asked as he watched her shake out her long dark hair and start brushing dried grasses from her form-fitting clothing. He averted his eyes as she started brushing off her backside.

"Yes," Seeal replied as she started moving away, roughly securing her long hair back up in an attractive scruffy pile on the back of her head. "See you later, Neligan," she called as she raced away, the baby goatlings rushing after her, thinking it was a game.

"Bye!" Neligan called to her fast retreating back, the goatlings completely unable to keep pace with her.

The six babes quickly gave up their pursuit and instead ran a big circle and started racing back up the slight incline to him and Belka, but Neligan kept his eyes on Seeal as she raced away down the distant path and rounded a corner out of sight.

He should have invited her to the flower field.

000000

"Teyla is on her way with Sheppard," Halling reported to Oneakka from his pad.

"Okay," Oneakka replied simply as he adjusted his blankets over his legs and rested his head back against his pillows.

He was not looking overly well this afternoon, his wound was already paining him this morning according to Massa, and the recently completed physical therapy session had only drained more colour from Oneakka's face. Halling had almost suggested the session be delayed, but the all consuming presence of the newly arrived Grump had hung in the air around Oneakka like a heavy aura that promised to only expand and engulf Halling if he upset it. So, Halling had kept his comments to himself and instead had focused on detailing to Oneakka the very latest on the attempts to research the Skerti, saving no detail at all to help fill the quiet that was Oneakka pretending he wasn't in pain and angry at the universe.

In some ways, as unpleasant and unfortunate as this 'Cuddly Bear of Moor' stage was for Oneakka – and all those close to him – it had been something of a relief for Halling to see 'The Grump' arrive. This was a far more usual response from his friend when in recovery from injury and was preferable, in Halling's opinion, to the sad depression that had lingered around Oneakka recently. Halling had hoped that talking about the matter with Oneakka had helped and had tried to bring up the subject again yesterday, only for Oneakka to report that his dreams about his experience with his family had ended. Halling had not been sure if that was a good thing, but as 'The Grump' had arrived within a day of that report, perhaps it was. Either way, Halling hoped that it meant that Oneakka could now begin to heal emotionally as well as he was externally, albeit slower than Oneakka would like.

Today's physical therapy, though difficult, had actually been a milestone. For the first time since his injury, Oneakka had stood up. It had taken assistance from both the Physical Therapist and Halling to get him upright, but Oneakka had settled his weight on his own feet and managed to stay upright despite the clear discomfort involved. It had been a big achievement, but Oneakka had clearly taken it poorly. His pride had taken a bashing at the shaky and brief spell standing, so Oneakka had tried to feel better about it by completely overdoing his arm and shoulder strengthening exercises. It meant that now Oneakka was visibly exhausted, unhappy, and most likely in pain.

Halling had said nothing about it though and had simply focused on providing Oneakka with information on the research, keeping up a mostly one-sided conversation on the subject. Hopefully, once Teyla and Sheppard's short visit was complete, Oneakka would sleep for awhile and allow his body to recover.

A sound of approaching voices registered in Halling's awareness and he glanced to the window in the opposite wall to see several Healing Bay staff hurry past, chattering excitedly between them as they disappeared down the corridor.

"Sheppard's arrived," Oneakka concluded.

Halling nodded as he listened to the distant sound of cheerful voices and watched as Oneakka brushed at the front of his shirt a little, apparently trying to be certain that he was presentable, which wasn't usually something he cared about, but then Sheppard was a visitor from another galaxy.

"You look fine, my friend," Halling assured him.

Oneakka responded with an indecipherable murmur as he stretched his head one way and then the other, no doubt in an effort to help relieve his overworked shoulders.

New sounds of commotion started up from just down the corridor, the voices growing closer, and soon enough Halling could pick out Teyla's voice among them.

Halling set his pad down on the floor and sat up a little taller as he saw movement through the window and Teyla entered the room, her smile bright and welcoming.

"Oneakka, Halling," she smiled as she moved towards the far side of Oneakka's bed, while, behind her, Sheppard and his familiar colleague - whose name Halling could not quite recall – entered as well.

"Emmagan," Oneakka greeted her with an actual smile as she reached him and lifted her hands to his shoulders, initiating the Athosian greeting. She had begun to do this with Oneakka each time she visited him since his injury, her joy at his survival still very obvious each time. Halling watched as Oneakka leaned his shaven head forward to touch his forehead to hers briefly, though Halling had noticed the very faint twitch in Oneakka's neck which spoke of his strained muscles.

Behind Teyla, Halling met Sheppard's gaze. "Honoured Elite," Sheppard nodded politely and his colleague did the same.

"Welcome Sheppard," Halling replied as he inclined his head. "Lieutenant," he added to Sheppard's compatriot, at least able to recall the male's rank.

"Honoured Elite," the younger man nodded back respectfully.

"Sheppard," Oneakka greeted him as Teyla stepped aside and Sheppard moved closer to Oneakka's beside.

"Hey," Sheppard grinned at Oneakka. "I hear you took on a whole Wraith Hive by yourself."

"Someone had to," Oneakka responded instantly.

"Well, we're glad you're okay," Sheppard replied. "We were all real worried about you," he added with a quick soft glance at Teyla. Halling was a little caught by the man's glance, which held in it a wealth of information as to Teyla's own reaction to Oneakka's near death and that Sheppard had been there for her during it. It made sense, since she had been staying in Atlantis at the time, but the reality of it said a great deal to Halling in that moment. He switched his gaze quickly to Teyla, assessing anew her open smile and relaxed posture. She looked well and happy. That had not been how she had been behaving around Sheppard of late, not since their wedding.

"It'll take more than that to stop me," Oneakka assured Sheppard, apparently needing to put on some bravado in front of the visitors. "Good to see you survived Kolya," he added.

Halling had almost forgotten about what had happened to Sheppard with all the Skerti focus, so he quickly shifted his attention back to Sheppard. "We were all very glad to hear that you survived your ordeal," Halling told him.

"Thanks," Sheppard smiled back across Oneakka's bed, but there was the faintest break in the man's usual smile that suggested that the trauma of the event had not yet been healed, but that was to be expected. Halling could not imagine what it must have been like being drained almost entirely of one's life-force, to be on the brink of death from the torture, and then for the Wraith to give it all back. The Elite were aware of the Wraith's ability to return what they could take in the feeding process, but it had only ever been documented as a torture method, as the repeated use of it could drive Humans mad, or turn them into Worshippers, which was the same as madness in Halling's opinion.

Looking at Sheppard's face now, Halling caught himself looking for signs of the feedings that Sheppard had gone through, but there were none to see; at least none externally. In fact, Sheppard looked exceedingly well.

Like Teyla, there was a brightness to his face and a relaxation of his posture that told Halling the two were very comfortable with each other once again.

Could it be then that something more profound had changed between them? Had the former days of affection returned?

Halling watched as Teyla started moving down and around the end of the Healing Bay bed, Oneakka now asking questions of Sheppard about his ordeal and Kolya's involvement. Teyla headed up this side of Oneakka's bed, clearly headed towards Halling. He rose briefly out of his chair to reach his hands to her shoulders, hers settling on his, and he touched his forehead to hers. She felt as relaxed as she had appeared across the room.

"Father sends you his greetings," Teyla uttered as they released each other and Halling sat back down, only one of Teyla's hands settled on his shoulder – again something she had continued to do since Oneakka's injury.

"That is kind of Torren," Halling smiled up at her, taking in the flushed health of her complexion. She looked happy. He had not seen her like this for some time, and it did his heart good to see it. It was also something of a balm in contrast to the grumpy atmosphere in Oneakka's room today.

"He invites you to visit my family when you are next on Athos," Teyla continued. "Charin is back in the Complex to stay for the winter."

Halling smiled. "I am pleased. Have the snows started?" He realised it had been too long since he had visited their homeworld.

"Yes, the hills are thick with it," Teyla replied. "Are you free for Late Meal today?" She asked. "Would you like join us and Massa in the canteen?"

"I would be honoured to join you," Halling agreed. He had missed her company and was so immensely grateful that their disagreements over her former secret affair with Sheppard, and his withholding of Sitayi' prophecy, had passed. These last days since Oneakka's injury and Sitayi' worst prediction having been averted, had brought with them a lightness of being for Halling and he felt as if all that mattered most to him was now only stronger. He felt as if he had a new lease of life ahead of him, and he smiled up at his old very dear friend.

"You are looking very well, Teyla," he told her quietly. "And happy," he added, holding her gaze so that she would understand what he meant.

Her smile widened, her eyes moving to where Sheppard was talking with Oneakka. "Thank you, my friend," she added as her gaze returned to his. "It means a lot to me that you approve of my choices."

"Always, Teyla," Halling promised her, hoping she saw the truth clearly.

Her hand tightened on his shoulder and she smiled back.

"...is a tradition where we come from," Sheppard's voice caught through the moment and Teyla abruptly looked up with interest. Halling looked round as well to see that Sheppard was drawing a large brightly wrapped box out of a bag held by his Lieutenant. "Back home, if you're sick or badly injured, this is what we give to help you pass the time," Sheppard explained as he handed the apparent gift to Oneakka.

"Thank you," Oneakka replied, appearing surprised and then frowned down at the box, clearly unsure what he was supposed to do with it.

"You've got to tear off the paper," Sheppard instructed.

Oneakka settled the box on his lap, pulled at one folded corner of the box and tore the wrapping aside to reveal a colourful box inside. Halling leaned forward in his chair to see what it was, Teyla doing the same beside him. The box inside had a bright drawing across the top of it that showed a mass of sketched people in what looked like a brightly painted garden.

"It's called a 'jigsaw'," Sheppard explained as he reached in to help Oneakka and pulled the lid up off the box, revealing a large clear bag sitting inside, which in turn held a large collection of small pieces. "The picture on the top of the box is broken up into all these little different shaped pieces and you've got to put it all together."

Oneakka picked up the bag and turned it in his hands. "The final picture is bigger than the box?"

"Yeah, finished it'll be about this big," Sheppard held his hands apart to indicate a good size. "It's not difficult, but it takes time and its oddly satisfying when you're stuck in bed not able to go anywhere." Halling glanced up at Teyla. It appeared that Sheppard had brought the gift at a very useful time indeed to help distract Oneakka.

Oneakka looked up from the bag and smiled up at Sheppard. "Thank you, Sheppard," he repeated with more feeling this time.

"The best way to start is to find the corner pieces," Sheppard added as he reached forward and poked at the bag. "Then the side pieces, like that one."

"Form the outline first," Oneakka nodded. "Good strategy."

"If you enjoy it, we've got loads more back in Atlantis for our Infirmary, but this one's brand new, just shipped in from Earth."

Oneakka nodded as he returned the plastic bag into the box and settled the lid over it. "I hear Atlantis is sending us scan data from outside our borders."

"Yeah, we're going to dial in to Atlantis later and they'll send the intel across."

"Once they know you're here safely," Oneakka interpreted bluntly.

"Sure," Sheppard smiled back with a faint chuckle. "Hopefully we'll find something helpful on these Skerti."

"Sheppard!" A new voice suddenly cut through from the doorway and Sheppard turned to reveal Seeal entering the room. She looked a little winded, but she was grinning brightly at the arrivals.

"Seeal?" Sheppard grinned back, clearly surprised to see her.

Seeal held out her hand to him, remembering the Earth custom, which Halling realised he had not offered. "You two get around don't you?" she joked as she shook Sheppard's hand and then the younger Earthman's. "Ford," she smiled at him too. Lieutenant _Ford, _of course that was his name. Halling repeated it in his head several times to try and make it stick this time.

"What are you doing here?" the young Ford asked her with casual informality, born, no doubt, from their short shared days on the Sythus.

"I work here," Seeal explained as she moved a little further into the room. "And live here," she added as she neared Oneakka's bedside, her gaze sliding quickly over Oneakka's face to drop down to the jigsaw box with obvious interest.

"_Why_ are you here?" Oneakka abruptly demanded of her, his heavy stern tone cutting through the former light atmosphere like the strike of a blunt weapon.

Halling felt everyone's silent reaction to Oneakka's sudden change of mood, the transformation jarring.

"I heard Sheppard was here," Seeal simply replied though as she turned back to Sheppard. "It was easy to find you, _everyone's_ talking about you," she smiled, only to glance back at Oneakka. "You're _old_ news."

"I haven't moved the bed back," Oneakka told her with a scowl, the comment and its context seeming completely out of place. However, Halling guessed it was probably in reference to the incident earlier which Massa had recounted to him with great enjoyment. Of course, no one else in the room would have any idea what Oneakka was talking about.

"Good," Seeal replied to Oneakka, not seeming in the least bit upset at his behaviour towards her in front of guests. "It's important that you're comfortable."

Halling watched Oneakka frown at her as if that kind answer was confusing for some reason.

"I can set the bed however I want," Oneakka insisted to her, clearly still holding a grudge from her earlier intervention.

Behind Seeal, Halling saw Sheppard glance across the room to Teyla with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine," Seeal responded to Oneakka, her tone a little firmer now. "_Be_ uncomfortable."

"Shouldn't you be working?" Oneakka tried next, and Halling had to stop himself from visibly wincing at Oneakka's sharp tone. It appeared that 'The Grump' had found its first target.

"I can take a break to visit Sheppard," Seeal replied, her tone now a little exasperated. "I'm not here spying on you and how far up you set the head of your bed."

"_Good_," Oneakka stated. "I can make my _own_ decisions."

Seeal turned to fully face Oneakka now. "Do you want to spend your evening alone?" She asked him. "Because if you're going to be like this, I'd rather spend my time catching up with Sheppard and Ford."

Teyla shifted beside Halling. "You are in fact welcome to join us for Late Meal, Seeal," she quickly interrupted the argument. "We are meeting Massa and Halling in the canteen at the last quarter today."

Halling switched his gaze to Oneakka to see how he would react to hearing that they would all be sharing a meal without him, but Oneakka was still scowling up at Seeal.

"Yeah, it'd be great if you could to join us," Sheppard told Seeal, "unless you're _busy_ doing _other_ things." His tone and emphasis suggested some other meaning to Seeal, and young Ford smiled cheekily at Seeal from Sheppard's side.

Halling saw Seeal frown at the men. "No," she replied firmly, suggesting she had understood Sheppard's meaning and was being somewhat defensive about it. Perhaps it was a joke from their shared time on the Sythus.

Sheppard smiled back at her. "We wouldn't want to get in the middle of anything," he added, his eyes sparkling at Seeal.

"No, nothing," Seeal replied instantly, frowning still at Sheppard's smile. "I'll see you in the canteen later then," she added as she looked away back towards Halling and Teyla beside him. "Honoured Elite," she said politely to them.

"We shall indeed see you later, Seeal," Teyla replied.

Seeal turned back towards the still scowling Oneakka. "Enjoy your _boring_ evening alone," she told him.

"I _will_," Oneakka returned as she began turning away, but she simply headed out of the door without further comment.

A heavy silence held for a second after Seeal left but Teyla was quick to break it. "I believe we should also be leaving; I am going to show our guests around the Facility."

"Yes, looking forward to it," Sheppard agreed quickly.

Teyla squeezed Halling's shoulder and he looked back up to her smile. "I shall see you later," she said, "and good luck," she added quietly before she moved away from him. He didn't reply, as Oneakka and 'The Grump' would only hear, but he smiled at her knowingly as she moved to round the end of Oneakka's bed.

"I am scheduled to visit you for a longer shift tomorrow, Oneakka," she smiled as she headed up the far side of the bed and settled her hand over one of Oneakka's. "Which will give me time to finish my description of Atlantis."

"Thanks for visiting," Oneakka replied with a smile, his mood having swung back towards pleasant again. "And you too, Sheppard," he added with a nod to the Earthman. "Ford," he nodded to the younger man.

"It's great to see you doing so well," Sheppard replied as Teyla led the way towards the exit, Sheppard and Ford following her, all pausing to smile back at Oneakka before they turned into the corridor outside.

Halling watched as they moved down the corridor, still visible through the window, and he saw Sheppard fall into step with Teyla, angling his head to smile down at her. Yes, it seemed that much had changed between the newly married couple, or, rather, it would be more accurate to say that things had returned to how they had once been between them.

Despite his former concerns, he was pleased for Teyla, though part of him still worried for her future happiness. Marriage was always going to be difficult for an Elite, but when her Husband lived across the galaxy in Wraith-held territory... Still, it was good to see her so happy again, and to have something new and meaningful in her life.

The visitors now out of view, Halling looked back to Oneakka, suspecting that he too would have picked up on the changes between the married couple, only to find Oneakka already looking at him.

"Don't put anyone else on the rota," Oneakka stated. Halling frowned, uncertain for a moment as to Oneakka's meaning. "I don't need someone to sit with me every minute of every day like I'm a child. I can have an evening to myself." Ah, he was referring to Seeal's threat not to sit with him for her usual evening shift at his side.

Halling briefly considered discussing the outburst he, and Oneakka's guests, had just witnessed, but quickly decided against it. There was no logic to Oneakka when 'The Grump' arrived, and it was probably best not to stir it up any further today.

"Very well," he simply agreed instead.

Oneakka frowned in response, clearly not having expected that answer, but quickly looked away. "Good."

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TBC


	17. Chaos and Calm

**Note:** Thank you again for all the kind comments and reviews – I'm really touched, thank you. I hope everyone continues to remain safe and well. A few people have told me that they are particularly appreciating fanfic right now as a distraction away from the current situation; so, in light of that, I present the latest chapter, which brings a close to 'Day 13' of the story.

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**DAY 13 – TRUST **

**Chapter 17 – Chaos and Calm**

He was trying to find something, or a place.

Yes, a place.

Somewhere he'd been before, but had no idea how to find.

He'd been searching for hours for it, right through the night and into the new early dawn light that had brought with it a cold thick fog. Moving through the chill, he squinted through the thick soft haze, trying to get his bearings. Nothing looked familiar though, not even as he climbed a faint incline out of a thick patch of fog and into a clearer view of the landscape.

He should be wearing warmer clothes for this, his arms chilled against the morning freshness, but he was almost certain what he needed for that would be found in the place he was looking for...whatever it was.

There was a break in the line of the hedgerow up ahead where he could see a metal gate, so he headed that way quickly and clambered up over its frame. The old and rusted metal hinges creaked loudly under his weight before he dropped down onto the thin grass of a field on the other side.

A field!

That was what he was looking for, but this wasn't the right one; he could tell even through the thick fog. If he could only remember _which_ field he was trying to find. Maybe it was the next one on from this one?

The grass felt slightly crunchy under his boots as he moved carefully across the foggy open space. He couldn't see anything ahead of him, just different swirls of white within the thick fog, so he constantly switched his attention between the lack of clarity ahead and the ground just ahead of him, carefully watching his footing.

A good distance on, he guessed he had to be at least halfway across the field by now, but without any landmarks, he just couldn't tell. He couldn't even tell which way he was going, so he paused in the thick whiteness, only to feel a prickling warning creep across the back of his neck. He quickly looked back over his shoulder, looking the way he had come, but he couldn't see anything, couldn't see the gate in the distance. But he could hear it, he realised, the hinges creaking through the fog.

Except, he'd not left the gate open...

The sensation of being watched, being hunted, crept further down his neck and across his shoulders, whispering fear and danger.

He turned completely round towards the distant squeaking gate, trying to make out any shapes in the fog.

It could just be that the gate had simply swung open after he'd climbed over it. The latch was probably as old and rusty as the hinges...

He kept turning slowly on the spot, squinting around the unseen field, seeking out the source of the itching worry.

Until it occurred to him to look up.

Sweeping his eyes upwards, the fog thinning the higher he looked, the mists parted around the dark hanging underbelly of a Wraith Hive ship.

He stumbled backwards, panic racing up his throat at the sight, and he tried to both run away but still keep his eyes on the ship. Almost falling over though, he quickly dropped his panicked stare from the ship and raced forward, uncaring now about what could be in the fog ahead of him.

How long had the Hive been tracking him? Had it been hovering over the landscape all night as he blindly searched?

The whiteout ahead finally started parting, revealing that he'd reached an edge of the field, where a full of thicket of overgrown shrubs rose up a slight incline to another thick hedgerow. He pushed quickly through the thicket, sharp edges of bracken scratching at his bare arms and his lower belly. The scratches tore deep on his belly though, forcing him to stop in the dense thicket and look down to find blood staining the lower part of his shirt.

Had he been injured?

He couldn't risk delaying to check – he just needed to find the safety of the field; he'd be okay if he could just find the field. Warn everyone else about the Hive.

He pushed on, puffing out his breaths through the nagging pain until he worked his way up through the bracken, gripping hold of a thick-stemmed shrub to help haul himself up the incline to the hedge at last. There was a single tree up here, having managed to grow up through the thick hedgerow to the light above, and it now provided some limited cover. He pushed into the hedge, sliding up against the tree's rough bark, and finally risked peering back up and out towards the Hive's hull.

Only, it wasn't there anymore.

Where had it gone?

Up into orbit? To blast him and everyone else from up there?

He quickly shoved through the rest of the tightly packed hedge and stumbled out into the next field. This was more promising, but still not the one he was looking for. A wooden fence stretched ahead and there were large sleeping cattle scattered across the grass. He headed towards the fence and followed it down the length of the field, spying the promising shapes of rooftops ahead through only a faint mist here.

Glancing up again, the sky was still free of the Wraith, but he hurried on faster.

He had to warn everyone. Get help.

Find the field.

The fence-line finally reached level with two large barns, so he clambered over the fence onto the gravelled surface of a farmyard and hurried towards the closest barn, glancing worriedly up and back again to check the sky.

At the barn, he rushed inside, but is was empty save for some cattle stalls, so he hurried back out into the cool air, crunching over the gravel as he dashed into the barn opposite. No one was here either.

He shouted out, hoping maybe someone would hear him, but there was no reply.

He looked hurriedly around the barn to find a useful weapon, but all he could find was a shovel and a length of chain – hardly the best weapons to use against the Wraith.

Clutching the shovel's wooden handle, he stepped back out of the barn and peered up at the sky.

Nothing.

In fact, he realised, there were no sounds at all. Not the stirring of tree branches, no shifting of the worryingly still cattle, or the chirp of a bird anywhere.

He headed slowly back to the fence-line, his boots' soft crunches on the gravel the only whisper of any sound in the thick silence. Looking back up the length of the field towards the hedgerow with its single tree, he saw the fog was now rolling in from the previous field, slowly sweeping down over the cattle, covering everything.

No one was here. No one could help, and he had no idea where to go or where to find the field he was looking for.

He was all alone.

The silence broke with a sudden flutter and he snapped round to the right, shovel raised, only to see a black-winged bird had landed on the fence near him. He lowered the shovel and watched as the bird stared back at him with dark intent eyes.

He carefully edged away from it, but the bird simply sidled sideways along the fence to keep up with him, tilting its head as if she was finding him amusing.

He glanced away from the staring creature to check the sky again. If the birds were coming out of shelter then maybe that meant the Wraith had gone?

The bird let out a sharp croaking squawk, the sound almost like words.

Whisperer.

Oneakka woke up, blinking hard against the sleepy fog, his neck aching from the position he'd fallen asleep in with his head hung down against his chest. He quickly lifted his head, his neck protesting, but he could see the familiar Healing Bay room round around him. A quick visual sweep of the room confirmed that she wasn't here though.

No one was.

The lighting level was lower, telling him the Facility was in its evening cycle, and he glanced to the right where the time was displayed on the wall panel. She was normally here by now, so it seemed Raven had kept to her threat not to visit him this evening.

It didn't matter anyway.

It was nice to be actually left by himself for once. He didn't need to be constantly supervised, everyone looking at him with pity in their eyes.

His neck was still complaining, as were his shoulders, so he cautiously stretched his head to the right and then to the left, trying to get the muscles to relax. It didn't really work. It wasn't like that was anything new. His arms hurt, his back hurt, and his backside ached from the minuscule amount of time in which he'd been able to actually stand up today, and that had been with the Physical Therapist and Halling basically holding him up. His legs had felt almost foreign to him, and they had started shaking the second he'd started putting some faint weight on them.

At least his legs didn't hurt, but the restlessness he kept getting in them, like right now, was a twitchy irritating sensation. He wanted nothing more than to just kick and shake his legs out, get some blood moving through them and use the muscles some more, but just the idea of what that would do to his wound... He tried flexing his feet gently and then circling his ankles under the annoying weight of the blankets, but even those stupidly tiny movements started pulling at his belly.

He froze as the pain threatened, forcing himself to breathe steadily and keep his belly as relaxed as he could.

When it did choose to strike, the pain was at least less than last week, but it had also morphed into a deep grating sensitive soreness that was _always_ there now. The latest stage of his medication plan had moved off the sedating stronger pain killers and onto a new mix of deep tissue healing drugs that, though effective, didn't agree with his stomach. The near constant nausea was wearing him down. He hadn't thrown up, but he felt always on the verge of it.

And his damn head itched! His hair was starting to grow, his entire scalp now a layer of stumble and it was constantly irritating. He reached up to it now and rubbed the flat of his palm over his scalp, trying to stop the irritating itching. At least the long wound on the top left side of his head had finally closed, but it too had an itchy sensation to it. The urge to scratch at the healed scab was overwhelming, but he knew it would be stupid and counterproductive.

It was just all too much.

He dropped his arms to his sides and rested his head back against his pillows, staring up at the white ceiling overhead. He really wanted to punch something, hard. Or maybe just go curl up somewhere alone in the dark and just sleep until all this was over. Until he could stand on his own damn feet by himself, as a warrior should.

He closed his eyes against the inner raging frustration and vulnerability.

He hated feeling like this, being useless and helpless, and having to fight against the overwhelming urge to just scream out his anger until the very walls of this tiny little room that he was stuck in collapsed and he could be free again.

But that wasn't going to happen and screaming wouldn't help.

Instead he just had to be here, lying pathetically and so uncomfortably that he just wanted to cry.

But that wouldn't help either, and it certainly wouldn't keep the dark thoughts at bay. They were an old and well known enemy, and one that all Elite knew could never be truly defeated, only starved. Dark thoughts that whispered that he'd be stuck this way for the rest of his life now, always suffering. That he should be doing better than he was but they were keeping that fact from him. That he'd never fight again.

That no one wanted him around.

That he should have stayed in that field with his family.

He snapped open his eyes and frowned up at the perfectly white ceiling above him. The dark thoughts were just a natural depressive reaction due to severe injury and confinement.

And a traumatised soul.

Halling had skirted around that during their recent discussion, as had plenty of Elite assigned Mind Healers who Oneakka had been forced to talk to in the past. 'Extreme physical and emotional trauma' and 'repressed feelings of survivor's guilt'; he knew his enemies; he didn't need other people to define them for him.

And he didn't need Halling's tempting Athosian religion that whispered the possibility that what he'd experienced had been real.

The dead don't talk and he wasn't going to get some sign from his dead family.

It had been a hallucination concocted by his near dead, blood-drained brain in the last moments of his life. But, he'd come back from that edge and now he couldn't find a single moment of peace. Everything hurt, ached, itched, and twitched.

And he was here all alone.

Not that he cared.

He was used to it, being an orphan. The last of is people.

The sound of soft footsteps caught his attention from the corridor outside, but they were the controlled steps of a Healer moving around the quiet evening of the Bay. It wasn't Seeal. She strode out as she walked, with each step hyper-efficient and hurried.

His stomach turned a little, threatening to empty itself.

"Honoured Elite?" A soft familiar voice interrupted his self pity.

He looked round to find Healer Meiyo walking towards him through the open door. She didn't usually visit this late in the day.

"Healer," he greeted her, attempting to smile at her.

As she approached, he saw her eyes run over his face with that motherly assessing way that only she could do and not leave him feeling annoyed and transparent.

"I heard that your physical therapy was very successful today," she smiled as she leaned one hip against the side of his bed, as she always did.

"Stood by myself," he confirmed, wishing such a simple thing wasn't an impressive feat for him right now.

"As always, you are making _amazing_ progress."

"Doesn't feel that way," he told her.

She nodded. They'd had a version of this conversation many times, which at least meant that he didn't have to hide anything from her. He'd learnt that was only counterproductive.

"Still, slow and steady exercise is the key," she advised, which was encouragement but also a gentle warning about not overdoing things. As if he could. Well, maybe the arm exercises earlier; he could feel the heavy aching hurt in his arms from that. As if pulling on long stretchy bands and ropes had ever been close to a workout for him normally.

"Do you need any additional pain relief following the physical therapy?" She asked.

That transparent feeling settled through him. "I'm alright."

She angled her head pointedly.

"My stomach can't take any more of it," he admitted.

"We can add the additional Antiemetic to settle that," she reminded him.

He was already on one of the anti-nausea drugs as part of the medication cocktail, and the only additional med that could be added usually made him feel horribly drowsy and confused. If the nausea got too much then it might be worth it, but right now the nausea felt more manageable than the confused stupor option. "Maybe tomorrow," he decided.

"Alright, but remember, taking additional medication will not slow your improvement," she told him and he nodded that he understood. "In case you do decide that you need additional pain relief tonight, or the anti-nausea support, I'll leave instructions with the night team as to what dosages they can give you."

"Thank you," he replied, managing a small smile for her help.

"I took a look at your scan from this morning," she continued, "and I am very pleased with the progress of your healing, but there is a small build up of fluid in your lower belly, most likely from being in one position for so long. So I would like for you to start lying on your sides as well as reclined, alternating as much as you can, just so we do not put too much pressure in one area."

He nodded at the plan. What position he was lying in was the only control he had in his life right now anyway.

Meiyo's warm hand patted against his arm. "You are doing very well. Don't be discouraged, Honoured Elite."

He wondered if the reason for her unusual evening visit was because he was by himself this evening, or, perhaps, she'd somehow known that the dark thoughts were getting the best of him.

He nodded back, his scalp itching intently.

Meiyo patted his arm again and turned to leave, revealing that someone was waiting outside the open door.

She'd come after all.

Seeal pushed away from the far corridor wall, exchanged a polite nod with Meiyo as the Healer passed by, and then moved into the doorway.

He wished he didn't feel so desperately relieved to see her.

"Are you still grumpy?" She asked, holding at the threshold of the room as if she might still leave.

He crushed the urge to apologise to her. He didn't need to. He was a grown man and didn't need ordering around by anyone.

She should be the one apologising to him.

"Yes," he stated back frankly.

"Thought so," she simply replied as she headed into the room. She had her large computer pad tucked under one arm, her completely unnecessary jacket draped over it, and her usual tall cup of Athosian tea in her other hand.

She was heading away from him though, moving down the room to circle the foot of his bed, clearly intending to sit on his left side. That wasn't where she usually sat. She sat on his right, Halling and Massa sat on the left side. He narrowed his eyes, suspicious at the sudden change of behaviour and saw that she was focused on the chair by his left elbow. He frowned down towards it, only to realise the target of her interest – Sheppard's gift was on that chair.

He glared at her as she started up his left side; clearly she was far more interested in the Earth gift than him. "I'm _always_ grumpy anyway," he added.

That made her look up as she arrived by the chair. "That's complete Wraith shit, Oneakka," she stated, looking him directly in the eye. "You're grumpy because you feel rubbish."

Well, that was true enough.

"You were impaled by a Hive ship," she added, which was hardly something he needed reminding about.

"It wasn't a _whole_ Hive ship," he repeated what had become his part of their standard back and forth on the subject, and he felt annoyed that he'd so easily fallen into the banter, as if that made everything better.

Though it sort of did...a little.

He didn't need to apologise to her though.

"You're stuck in this bed all the time, in pain, can't move properly, and probably all crabby from the medication you're on," she summarised as she set her tea and pad down on his side table.

"There's nausea too," he added to her list as she picked up Sheppard's gift, sat down in the chair and set the Earth box on her lap.

He realised he hadn't checked the front of his shirt in case he had dribbled on it in his sleep, but he refused to check. It wouldn't matter even if there was something there.

Seeal settled her hands on top of the colourful Earth gift and gave him a strange sort of smile. "You're _not _grumpy _all _the time. You were laughing not long before that Hive ship turned up in the Arkinian system." She lowered her attention to the box, looking at it properly.

Laughing?

Oh yes, the river.

It wasn't like he had forgotten what had happened, but he just hadn't thought about it with all the pain and near death. But he remembered now and was a little surprised that she'd willingly reference the moment in which he'd so successfully tricked her and she'd screamed and climbed him like a tree in an attempt to escape some tiny fish.

"I remember you're afraid of water," he baited her.

"No!" Raven protested instantly, just like she had by that underground river. "_Not _water. _Fish_."

"Because _that's_ more logical," he returned.

"Is it any more logical than willingly walking into an irradiated collapsing Hive ship?"

"Fish is weirder."

"No, it's not weirder. Fish can kill people too."

"Not the tiny ones that clean the swimming pool water here," he recalled. He had no idea how this woman who had fought off slug robots, killed a Wraith Queen, and had worked as Security Lead on the most dangerous station in the galaxy could be afraid to swim in the Facility pools because of the tiny fish in the meshed off side tank.

Still it was kind of funny though. Raven so afraid of something that she wouldn't go near it.

She sighed. "I said I would go use the swimming pools and I will."

"When?" He pushed.

"Well, you're not exactly in any position to go right now, are you?"

"Is that because you need me there to defend you against the tiny little fish?"

She narrowed her eyes with a deadly looking glare. It just looked funny to him.

Her glare became surprise. "See there you go, you smiled." Had he? "No Cuddly Bear of Moor this evening," she added as she looked down at the Earth box with more focus.

Damn Halling.

"So, this is a traditional Earth gift, huh?" She asked as she ran her hands over the surface of the box with its large picture and the indecipherable Earth writing across it.

"Apparently for sick people."

"And for something called 'Christmas', according to Sheppard," she added. Of course, because she'd been at the Late Meal social in the canteen with everyone else but him.

He wanted to ask about the meal, what everyone had talked about around the shared table, and where she had sat.

He frowned at that bizarre thought. Where she sat? Why did that matter?

"This is from a whole different galaxy," Raven uttered with apparent awe as she lifted the box.

"So are Sheppard and his people," he pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, but they're people. This is a _thing_, made from tree pulp presumably, processed and formed into a structured shape, and then printed with this imagery and words. It's a whole process of events and planning. Sheppard says there are thousands of these made every day on his planet. Think of the manufacturing requirements, the different skills involved so that thousands are traded regularly every day. Then there's the culture of it, the amusing drawing," she lifted the box higher to study it more closely. "Showing what looks like a large series of gardens full of people, also vehicles I think, and small animals. These two are fighting over a bucket," she grinned as she pointed to one part of the picture.

He hadn't really taken much time to actually study the gift from Sheppard, just appreciated the thought and the vaguely interesting fact that it was from another galaxy, but he had felt too rubbish to think any further. Now she was holding it up, he could see the little drawn colourful figures.

"_You're_ interested in culture?" He asked doubtfully.

She rolled her eyes as she pulled the lid up off the box. "I'm interested in different cultures, especially if it's from an entirely different galaxy." She pulled out the transparent bag that held all the pieces to form the large copy of the picture on the front of the box. She turned it in her hands, peering at the little pieces inside.

He switched his gaze from the bag to her. She had what looked like a piece of dried grass caught in her hair. It was probably from the goat hut during her daily visits to see Belka and her young.

There was a new smell around her recently, and he drew it in now. It was just faintly flowery in the air around her as if maybe it was something she had rubbed into her skin or on her hair. He had wondered if she'd smelt of it when she visited him in the evenings because she showered after her workday, but she'd smelt of it earlier today when Massa had called her in to force the point about the bed.

Dark eyes snapped to him, sensing his focused attention. "What? Why can't I be interested in Sheppard's world?"

"I didn't say you couldn't be," he quickly countered.

"Did Inifee visit you today?" She asked the sudden random question.

"Yes, he did," he answered with a frown. "How did you know?"

"He said he did, but I wasn't sure if you were awake at the time."

He felt somewhat insulted by that comment, but also why was she talking with Inifee about him? How much contact did she have with the Sythus pilot since the Arkinian mission? "When did he tell you he'd visited me?"

"He joined us for Late Meal in the canteen," Raven explained as she set Sheppard's gift aside and reached for her tea.

"He did? Why?" Oneakka asked.

"Because, like everyone else linked to the Elite, he'd heard that Sheppard was visiting today and dropped by the canteen after he'd visited you. Emmagan invited him to join us and he and Sheppard jabbered away like the two 'Fly Boys' they are, which is an Earth term for pilots according to Ford."

Clearly it had been a very social gathering then. "Glad the meal went well for Sheppard," Oneakka muttered glancing away. His legs were feeling restless again, so he carefully tried flexing his feet under the blankets.

"It did but," Seeal paused as she drank some tea and he looked back round at her, "I can't be the only one who sees what's going on, right?"

Oneakka frowned at her. "What?" Sometimes the woman could jump around subjects like there were wormholes linking them that only she could transverse.

"Sheppard and Emmagan's 'political' marriage," Raven said sarcastically. "Please, there's nothing chaste about that marriage!"

Well, it was only obvious to those who knew Emmagan, though Raven was very good at reading people and situations. Except when to keep out of decisions regarding how he set the head of his own bed.

"Some Political Marriages are sexual," he found himself arguing for some reason.

"That one _certainly_ is," Seeal stated with feeling.

"That's their business and no one else's," Oneakka pointed out, feeling oddly defensive about the whole subject. What Emmagan and Sheppard did in their own time was their private business not hers or anyone else's.

"True," Raven conceded with half shrug.

Wriggling his feet had actually helped the restlessness in his legs, so he relaxed a little more, only now realising that he had his arms crossed over his chest. Annoyed at his defensive body language, he forced his arms to relax and laid his hands on his lap, while trying desperately to ignore his itching scalp. Maybe Meiyo could give him some ointment or something to sooth his scalp tomorrow.

He dropped his attention to his hands as he flexed them to try and ease the overworked ache in his forearms.

He realised that Raven had fallen quiet, so he looked round to see that she was brushing at something on her leg. Maybe she'd been to see the goats just before coming here, which would explain the grass in her hair and presumably the dust she was brushing off her dark trousers.

"Anything else interesting happen at the meal?" He asked.

Seeal looked up from her trouser brushing and pulled a thoughtful expression. "Not really, except Inifee is joining my group from the Sythus for our visit to Myrtle's next week," she supplied.

Ugh, Myrtle. Oneakka had almost forgotten about his last encounter with the preened twat.

"Go on then," Seeal waved her hand in the air as if encouraging him.

Oneakka frowned at her and her waving. "What?"

"You're going to tell me to stay away from Myrtle," she said.

"No, I'm not," he argued.

"And then you're going to say that I'm to behave myself and not get into trouble," she rocked her head from side to side as if reciting something boring that she'd heard too many times. "Not to start any riots."

"I wasn't," he insisted, honestly enough. In fact, now he thought about it, she was right that he normally did. It hadn't occurred to him now though. That felt significant for some reason, but he had no idea why. "You do whatever you want to do," he quickly added into his confused silence. "It's not my business."

Both her dark eyebrows lifted with almost comical surprise. "There's a change. Maybe getting impaled by a Hive ship has helped."

"It wasn't a _whole_ ship," he corrected her again. "And it _never_ helps anything to be impaled." He was feeling annoyed with her again, but not entirely sure why. "Whatever you do with your Strays is your business," he repeated.

"Well, I'm looking forward to all of us 'Strays' being together again," she continued completely uncaring about his comments.

"Together again?"

"I've not been on an evening out with them since you were impaled," she explained and he felt his shoulders tighten. Now his near death got in the way of her social life? "And Ru has been temporarily reassigned to the secret work on the Skerti drive," she continued, "Toj was at some competition on Sateda, and now Inifee's going to be joining us for the first time."

Oneakka frowned at her information dump. Ru was back on the Sythus? Surely Ru had enough to do helping as part of Silvar's research project? Unless, now he thought about it, Halling had said something today about accelerating the Sythus' repairs. He hadn't really been paying much attention to Halling's near constant talking earlier.

"Ru' back on the Sythus?" He checked with Raven.

"Apparently he will be for the night out," she shrugged, back to brushing at her trouser leg again.

Mmmm Ru certainly wouldn't miss a chance to go on a social outing with Seeal. The Lead Engineer clearly had intentions.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone," she repeated.

"Clearly," he looked away. She could go enjoy her new friends all she wanted. He'd stay here and try not to move too much.

His scalp was really itching now, so he reached up to scratch his head a bit to relieve it, the annoying rough stubble grating against his fingertips.

"And when you're better, we can go see the stupid swimming pool fish," Raven added.

He looked at her in time to see her reluctant eye roll. "And you'll go in the water?"

"Not _with _the fish," she stressed. "In the main pool _away_ from the fish, yes."

"The fish are harmless," he stressed.

"So are knives until someone stabs you with one."

He frowned at that bizarre logic, but she had agreed again to the pool visit, so he let the line of discussion drop. A warrior should always face their greatest fears, and hers was simple enough to address.

"And I promise not to start any riots in Myrtle's," she added.

He nodded, though the subject of his former lengthy instructions on her behaviour lowered his mood again. He'd only meant it to help her learn how to behave in the Alliance, so that she'd not get into trouble.

Or was that a lie? He'd used to mean those warnings, worried that she would cause problems for the Elite and within the Alliance. Now though, now it felt different. It felt like...he would be insulting her if he said those things to her now. He had no idea why or how that had changed. Maybe it was just a reaction to all she had done to help save Halling and him on that broken deadly Hive ship.

Or perhaps it was because she was one of his Whisperers, her circling bird having helped call him back to his life.

And she'd been sitting at his side every evening since, even when he'd snapped at her.

"I'm sorry I'm irritable today," he apologised on impulse.

She was clearly as surprised by his apology as he was, but she smiled at him. "You can be grumpy if you want, Oneakka, just don't expect me to tip-toe around you like the others do. Believe me, I've heard far worse insults than you can offer."

He guessed that had to be true, considering how the Glisi had treated her and the many criminal scum she had used to police.

"That's _not_ an invitation for you to try, though," Raven quickly added with a forced glare and a pointed finger.

He couldn't help but reluctantly smile at that, and he promised not to try.

It was the least he could do for his Whisperer.

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The bathroom attached to Teyla's quarters was pretty fancy, with plenty of Elite tech to use, though the room was clearly out of proportion to attached the tiny main room.

It had taken her all of two seconds to show him round her Facility quarters. The main room was narrow, with her single sized bed lengthways against the wall opposite the door, and there was a waist high side unit stood against the wall to the left of the door and a wooden chair to the right of the door. That was pretty much it. The right wall of the room was a series of built in wardrobes and cupboards, same as she had in her Sythus quarters, and the left hand wall held the door into the bathroom. Still, the place still had plenty of 'Teyla' vibe to it. There was the familiar scent of Athosian incense in the air, a bright throw and cushion on the wooden chair, and there were several Athosian drawings hung on the wall over her bed, similar to the one she had hanging up in her Tjaru quarters. Her bedding was the same colourful patterns she had in Tjaru, and tucked under her bed there was a large cushion that was Ketra's bed when she was here.

Whereas, here in her bathroom, there was far more space and tech. There was a large shower stall that doubled as a real decent sized bath, there was a three tiered heated towel rail on one wall beside one of the Elite tech hair/body hot air drier things, a thick pile rug under his bare feet, and real large sink set in front of a mirror and a wall-fitted computer panel. It seemed then that the Elite put far more attention into designing their bathrooms than they did their bedrooms. She'd told him to use anything in the cupboard under the sink he needed, the contents of which had provided some more insight into the life of an Elite bathroom. The top shelf of the large cupboard had stocks of Athosian soaps, toothbrushes, their version of toothpaste and shaving cream, several hair brushes, and the biggest first aid kit he'd seen outside of an Infirmary. The larger bottom shelf was stacked full with clean folded towels. There had to be at least thirty. Clearly towels were important here – he was going to have to ask her about that.

He closed the cupboard doors after pulling out one of the towels. It was faintly warm which suggested there was a heating panel under the cupboard. He dried off his face with the surprisingly large fluffy towel and hung it on a free spot on the big towel rail. Shaved, teeth brushed and dressed ready for bed, he considered the array of bottles she had on the side of the sink. He could recognise most of them from her other quarters, but there were two big bottles of something new here. He couldn't read much of the Alliance language yet, outside of some basic words he'd learnt on the Sythus to do with piloting and stations on the ship, so he picked up one bottle and popped open the top to take a whiff. The smell rushed up his nose and, with it, plenty of flashbacks to his training days. It smelt like the eucalyptus muscle-relaxant stuff he'd used to use on bruises and sore muscles. He put the bottle back and decided to save his nose from trying out the other bottle just in case.

He looked back at himself in the mirror to check on his hair before heading back out of the restroom. He tried shaping the top of it, but, as usual, it didn't really help any. He reached out to the wall computer panel, tapped its lower right corner and it lit up with the Facility's time display. He might not be able to read Alliance yet, but he had gotten the hang of their numbers and the way they set up their clock. The 'Alliance Standard' the Elite used meant each day was divided up into 'quarters', then each quarter into eight 'hours', so the standard was thirty-two hours in a day. They then broke down each 'hour' into 'hour-quarters' each made up of ten minutes. He could go along with that, but the days were much shorter on Athos, so he'd just started to get used to the Athosian time-zone this past week, so now his body had no clue what time of the day it was. All he could tell was that he wasn't hungry and was starting to feel tired. The screen showed that in the Facility it was the last quarter and just past the seventh hour, so pretty damn late here.

They'd sat in the canteen for hours, the room having filled up around them and then emptied, though various new Elite had occasionally appeared and introduced themselves, all while giving him the standard Elite intense stare and assess routine. Some of them were clearly no longer on 'battle rotation' and the reason was usually pretty obvious; most of them were missing a limb or were in wheelchairs, and there were a few missing eyes.

Teyla hadn't been exaggerating when she'd told him that Elite came in all shapes and sizes. There had been Elite of every colour, height, shape, and some indeterminate genders, all sporting a wide variety of hairstyles and body armour. The only common denominator that John had clocked had been weaponry. All the Elite seemed to carry at least two sidearms and a selection of knives and/or swords. Oh and, of course, the distinctive tattoos. Clearly there were no set rules as to how an Elite should look, but most of them showed their ink on their hands, necks and upper chests visible around their armour. A surprising number had tattoos on their faces like Oneakka, and one guy had his over his ears and down along his jaw so he had a beard of tattoos. Though none of them – assuming all their tattoos were visible – had as many as his Teyla. Though, he had privileged information there, having counted them all personally...several times.

He liked the Facility, but it wasn't anything like he'd expected. He'd predicted more of a military bunker with maybe some Star Trek style corridors and panels, but instead it was more of a mix between the busy wide corridors of a mall, the clean whiteness you found in hospitals, and the atmosphere of a training academy. In fact, as the evening had progressed in the canteen, he'd seen various teenage Recruits sitting alone around the big room bent over tablets that suggested they were studying. Then at one point a column of Recruits had jogged into the room in formation, ran a lap of the room and jogged back out again. No one had batted an eye, so presumably that was pretty standard here.

He kind of wished he didn't have to leave tomorrow and could stick around here a bit longer. Yeah, because it was the training academy part that he would miss! He'd loved the last week with Teyla, spending so much time with her, getting to know her family better. Her quarters in Tjaru had started to become real familiar and she'd left him there alone a few times while she sorted some Elite work over their links network.

He was going to miss her so much. At least when she'd stayed with him in Atlantis, his quarters had still smelt of her, her tea, and her incense for days afterwards. Tomorrow he was going to have to go back to his empty quarters by himself again. He was gonna miss Ketra too. The dragon had stared up at him with such a forlorn look when they'd left her with Torren back on Athos.

It was feeling a little harder each time he said goodbye to them.

He shook his head. He was being stupid. It wasn't like he wasn't going to see them real soon – hell, Woolsey would probably be wanting to visit Athos in the next couple of days anyway, and hopefully Teyla would there.

He brushed his hands over his hair one last time and straightened his Air Force bed shirt. He still had tonight and tomorrow morning with Teyla and that was what he needed to focus on, though her bed looked pretty small out there...

Turning from the superbly lit mirror, he triggered the door control and headed into her tiny main room. Missing her tomorrow could wait, because he was gonna enjoy every single minute he had until th-

He pulled up short. Teyla was stood in the middle of the room, completely naked.

"Take off your clothes, John," she told him.

"O-kay," he readily agreed, all plans of some romancing no longer required as he headed towards her, pulling his shirt quickly up over his head.

She was grinning back at him as they met in the centre of the little room, her hands sliding up his chest while he shoved the waistband of his pants down off his hips and quickly kicked them off his legs the rest of the way so that he could get his hands on her as quickly as possible.

She pressed up hard against him as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling them tightly together as her mouth met his.

God, she felt and smelt good, her hands sliding up his neck, clutching at his hair as he tangled his tongue with hers. Aware that he was already breathing hard through his nose, he slid one hand down to her backside, cupping her up hard against him and she moaned into their kiss.

Oh, yeah. Hot and heavy it was then.

He slid his free hand up into her hair, which she'd let down out of her braids while he'd been in the bathroom, so that it was a long tangled sweetness in his hand as he supported the back of her head and pushed the kiss even deeper. She moaned again, one of her hands now squeezing in between them. She'd never moved things along quite this quickly before, but he was in no way complaining as her fingers slid around his already throbbing shaft. He released the plump fullness of her butt to reach down further, down between her legs to find the lips of her flesh already swollen and parted for him. Despite the angle, he had enough reach to press his fingertips up into her wet opening.

Her lips parted from his with a loud pop as she tilted her head up and back with a loud moan, stretching the length of her neck for him. He pressed his mouth into the invitation, licking up her throat, just how she liked, tracing up the edge of her tattoos to her ear. Squeezed in tight between their bellies, her hand slid down his shaft and up again, and he panted into her ear as he circled his fingers up into her as much as the angle would allow him.

"John," she groaned, her hand pulling out from in between them up to his shoulders.

Still breathing into the sweet musk of that space between her ear and her throat, he followed her push and pull on his shoulders as she turned them and he felt the hard edge of side unit bump against the back of his arm down around her backside. Understanding what she wanted, he pulled his fingers free, set both his hands around her hips and lifted her up so that she could slide her backside onto the top of the side unit. Her legs parted wide, providing him the best view ever before she pulled him roughly up against her again. He didn't protest as he reached around her to cup both her butt cheeks, their mouths meeting hard and fast.

Her tongue performed a long smooth stroke around his and she sucked hard.

Oh yeah.

When she broke the kiss, he pulled back enough to stare down at her full lips, listening to her fast breaths that included his name. Her hands were on his shaft again, sliding teasing, so he reached down blindly and pushed two fingers slowly up into her parting wet flesh. She groaned long and loud and he lifted his stare from her mouth to her eyes. They were deep black as he drew his fingers out and then back into her again.

"Yes," she whispered with delight, her eyes sliding closed. "More, John."

He sped up, sliding and massaging up into her, the front of his legs flush against the side unit as he buried his fingers right up into her and then held still, feeling her squeezing tightly around him as her orgasm hit her. She groaned loud and long, her head hanging right back so that the top of her head almost touched the wall behind her. He just watched as much of her as he could and gloried in the soft yet hard squeezing of her around his fingers.

All because of him.

Her head righted, her eyes meeting his again. "Drawer," she told him.

He frowned, not quite understanding the context of that word right now. She smiled at him and, one of her knees lifting up against his chest, she leaned sideways.

He watched as she reached to the front of the side unit, just beside his right hip, pressed a control and a small drawer slid out of the unit. The box of Alliance rubbers was a familiar sight just inside and he watched her pull out one of the little packets and she pushed the drawer closed again with her heel. He became distracted by her golden knee bumping up against his chest again, as well as the tempting thigh attached, so, while she slid the Alliance sheath onto him, he focused on trailing his wet fingers up and down the delicate softness of her inner thigh and pressed his nose and lips to her inner knee, drawing in her smell.

Her hands where on his hips quickly though, pulling him towards her, her knees parting wide again. He watched as she reached between them, directing his covered tip to her and he slid up into her with a long groan. He had to close his eyes tight to try to control himself from coming as he filled her, her flesh tight around him, her arms around his shoulders, her hands in his hair and her thighs around his hips. He gripped onto one of her thighs with one hand, holding her to him, while he reached round her and filled his other hand with her full backside, and started pumping.

She was moaning now, her nails digging into the backs of his shoulders, her mouth panting his name right in his ear.

She was so wet, so tight. She wanted him so much.

He couldn't slow down, couldn't stop obeying her repeating orders to move faster, harder.

He let go of her thigh to reach out to the wall behind her, providing them leverage as he held her butt and she thrust hard against him, one of her hands now digging into his backside.

He came hard into her, heard himself shout with it, and he had to press his face into her shoulder as he ground into her now flexing and spasming squeeze.

She groaned a deep pleasurable sigh, her hands tight on him, the scent of them together all around him, and he had to let go of her backside to press both his palms to the wall to keep himself upright as the pleasure washed every last ounce of his energy out of him.

Panting loudly into the soft, warm and sweet smelling space where her neck met her shoulder, he worked to keep standing, aware he was leaning hard against the side unit and the wall.

Her hands slid long caresses up his back, her mouth loud with long in and out breaths against his ear still.

He swore he was close to passing out he was breathing so hard, but he managed to get his mouth working enough to speak. "Tell me...these walls...are...soundproof..."

She made a deep chuckle that was super sexy as her hand slid up to the back of his neck. "Yes," she replied. "They are."

"Thank God," he whispered into her neck as her arm slid around his shoulders, hugging him to her.

With a long sigh, his breathing started calming, but a wave of sleepiness followed it and his legs were feeling weak.

"Think I need to sit down," he admitted against her skin.

She did that chuckle again. "The bed is just behind you," she replied.

He lifted his hands from the wall and shifted back from her enough that she could shuffle her butt to the edge of the unit and her delicate toes slipped to the floor.

His legs were definitely feeling like jelly now.

Her palm pressed against his chest and he took the hint to move backwards and felt the edge of her bed against the back of his knees. He sat back and down, letting out a loud sigh at the beautiful sensation of sitting and all the bliss flooding around his system. At another instructional push against his chest, he shuffled backwards, the wall meeting his back and Teyla sat in the space between his legs, nestling up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight to him, and worked on letting his breathing slow while enjoying all the skin-to-skin snuggles.

He drifted his eyes closed and just enjoyed every second, each of her breaths against him, her cheek brushing against his chest, her fingers caressing along the top of one of his thighs.

Yeah, this was the way to spend his time. If only they had more time together, that he didn't have to go back to Atlantis tomorrow, especially not knowing when he was going to see her next.

She shifted against him and he opened his eyes to see that she had a hold of the bedding and was curling it up both sides of them. He pulled his arms from her, his skin slightly clinging to hers, and reached to help. He caught the two ends of the bedding and wrapped it up and around her, cocooning them in together. She let out a murmur of pleasure and started snuggling back in against him, her body twisted towards his so her breasts were flush against his chest, her hands on his hips within their cocoon.

"Thank you for agreeing to the Beacon fitting today," she said quietly against him.

"Sure," he had no problem with being tagged, and the Powers That Be back home had agreed surprisingly easily. He had to wonder though that if Kolya hadn't done the whole kidnapping thing whether everyone back home would have agreed so readily, but he was more than happy to have some advanced tech that meant he couldn't be lost again.

"Is it still sore?" She asked.

He hadn't even thought about it. He'd taken the bandage off when he'd used the bathroom, but all there had been was that same small red line. He slid his arm up her back just enough so that he could peer down at his wrist. "A little," he realised. "Probably all the heavy lifting just now made it worse," he couldn't help but tease.

"Heavy?" she objected as she swatted at his thigh with a hand.

He just chuckled and hugged her closer.

"Do you like it here?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," he confirmed as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She let out a laughing breath and started tilting her head back. He watched as she adjusted herself against him, reclining her head back against his right upper arm so she could look up at him. He let his eyes follow all her exposed skin.

"I meant the Facility," she explained as she settled. "I already know that you enjoy it _here_," she added with a smile as she stroked a hand down his chest.

"This place is cool," he confirmed. "Bed's a bit small though." Not that sitting on it widthways was the best test though.

She smiled wide, her full lips begging to be kissed, but he held back because she starting talking. "There is not much space in here for more."

He nodded. "I suppose you don't sleep here much if you go back to Athos at night?"

"Not often, no," she confirmed. "I always try to go back to Athos if I can."

"But you use the bathroom a lot, right?" He asked, indicating the bathroom door barely a metre away from them. "Because that's a well kitted out bath and shower."

She smiled. She was looking pretty comfy in his arms. "Most bathrooms here are the same. Many of us return here from battle so it is good to have a hot bath, or showering after our daily sparring and gym sessions, and tend to small injuries."

"That explains all the towels and the mega first aid kit in there then. You get hurt a lot sparring?" He asked. He'd never seen her get hurt during Bantos training, but he could also remember all the blood stains across the floor of the Sythus' training gym.

"When one is sparring against some of the greatest warriors in this galaxy, it does happen," she replied.

"But you kick their asses back, right?" He checked.

"I do," she confirmed with a nod and a smile that felt like she was trying to make him feel better.

He didn't like the idea of her getting hurt so often that she had her own Infirmary-size kit in her bathroom. Shouldn't she be going to the big fancy hospital where Oneakka was when she was hurt? Not treating herself.

"I thought Lieutenant Ford seemed very interested to try the last training gym I showed you today."

"Yeah, you show that kid somewhere with that much weaponry and training gear to use and he'll light up like Pavlov's dog," he joked, only she frowned. "He's super excited," John translated quickly. "At gadgets too, and any mention of that lady, Nevaeh, on the Sythus he's got a crush on," he grinned.

"Yes, I heard you, Seeal, and Inifee teasing him about his crush during Late Meal."

"Speaking of which," he remembered, "why didn't you tell me about Oneakka and Seeal? That's some serious gossip." Seeal had been real tight-lipped about it and had changed the subject every time he and Ford had tried to get some info or tease her.

"Apparently there is nothing going on," Teyla explained, but she didn't look like she believed it either.

"'Nothing going on' like how there's nothing going on between you and me?" He asked.

She grinned at that from her reclined angle, her fingers sliding along the edge of his jaw now. He saw her eyes drop to his mouth, but lift back up to his eyes again. "According to Oneakka there is nothing at all going on and there _never_ will be," she supplied. "However, Massa believes it is just a matter of time."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to side with Massa on that."

"Massa is famous for being an optimistic romantic," Teyla added.

"Well," he grinned as he angled his head down towards her, "I'd have to agree with him on that too." He pressed his mouth to hers, her soft, still slightly swollen lips moulding to his. Her fingers caressed up from his jaw and across his cheek as the kiss deepened and then morphed into another. When the slow, relaxed kiss finally ended, he lifted his lips from hers just far enough so that he could look at her eyes. The angle was starting to hurt his neck, but it was worth it for a little longer.

"I'm gonna miss you," he whispered to her.

Her smile faltered just for a second, but she lifted her chin and pressed her lips back to his. "I will miss you too, my love," she whispered back as their mouths parted.

His neck now screaming at the angle, he had to straighten up again, but he kept his eyes on her, happy just watching her. The light in here glistened over her golden skin, her eyes dark and warm.

"Hopefully you will be visiting Athos very soon," she added, her fingertips now moving across his chin, as if she were trying to feel the stumble he'd just shaved off.

He nodded. "And there's gonna be Halling's big Skerti briefing," he remembered. Halling had given him an Alliance pad to pass to Colonel Carter that detailed the briefing's agenda and a series of possible dates for it, as apparently the Elite were waiting for some final research data before picking a day. "You'll be at that, right?"

"I will," she confirmed. "But we still have the rest of the night and tomorrow morning together."

"True," he nodded. "So, what do you think we should do with all that time?" He asked, trailing his gaze down her throat and across to where he could see one tight dark nipple.

"Mmmm," she pretended to consider her answer. "I am not sure." She shifted up from his arm, kneeling up between his legs and her hands cupped his face. "Perhaps..._nothing_?" She smiled seductively as her mouth descended to his.

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TBC


	18. The Assembly

**Note:** Wow, the weeks have passed by quickly of late. I hope everyone remains safe and well. I know that some of you reading are key-workers, and I send a huge thankful hug for all your vital work. Here is a small offering to keep this fic going as we move into Day 19 of the story...

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**DAY 19 – Briefing **

**Chapter 18 – The Assembly**

Carson took a deep calming breath as he checked over his things one last time. It felt like it had been an age since he'd last worn his uniform, let alone put on a tac vest again. He ran his left hand down over the reasonably comfortable but unyielding vest, feeling the bumps and dips of various items in the pockets that he'd added what felt like an age ago...from before the accident.

'Accident' didn't seem the right word, considering the dramatic and devastating consequences, but it was the most accurate technical description really. No one had known the destructive properties of that Ancient device and all the lives it had taken with two small tumours, the last of which had exploded across the room from him. All those who had died in that room had been because of him, his choice to try to save a life, but had only ended up losing more. He worked hard not to follow those dark lines of thought anymore though, because it was 'counterproductive' in the words of the military trauma counsellor who had been sent from Earth just to treat him. He still felt strange being on the patient side of things, needing help rather than helping others, but he understood it was an important part of his recovery. He had seen plenty of his own patients through similar paths of recovery both physically and psychologically, and he knew it worked. It was just uncomfortable being on the vulnerable side of it all.

But, when things threatened to overwhelm him, when he wanted to just beg Colonel Carter to let him go back to Earth and just disappear to a small cabin in the Highlands back home, he always turned his mind back to the wise words of that angelic Elite that had arrived at his Infirmary bedside and helped pull him back from the emotional brink. Carson had written down on a piece of paper everything he could remember that the man had said to him and had stuck the list up on the wall in his Infirmary side room that remained his current 'quarters'.

He'd forced himself to read those wise words many times this morning before he headed up here.

Now, stood looking down the Ancient staircase to the floor of the Gate Room, Carson repeated the one line from the list that had become his daily mantra: 'get to work, Healer'. He'd lost people under his care who had been his responsibility, but he had to keep going to save others. To honour their loss.

Not that today's trip off-world was to somewhere that he expected to have to use his doctoring skills, still it would be his first trip through the Gate since the accident. It felt like a milestone, but also somewhat overwhelming. He was not officially back on duty yet, though he had been undertaking some research work with Jennifer, and the two of them were co-writing a paper on the treatment ointment the Elite Healers had applied to his burns. His recovery was excellent, and though the left side of his upper body and head felt sensitive and looked red and scared still, he knew he was doing very well. It was too soon to return to duty properly, but today was important.

Besides, he had been personally invited by the Elite to today's Alliance briefing. Today was the day that Atlantis would finally be given the necessary information on the Elite's research into the new enemy named the Skerti. Carson was particularly intrigued by today's briefing since his Alliance scientist 'pen pal' – as John called her – was the Lead researcher into the recovered Skerti body. Imseti had not been able to share any specifics, but it was clear that she was excited for him to find out what she had discovered and that it might even inform future research into the Wraith as well.

He was very much looking forward to meeting Imseti today, which was another motivation in helping him pull his uniform back on for this mission.

He just wished he didn't feel so nervous about leaving the city. He'd never enjoyed Gate travel – the realities of what it did to the human body unnerving – but he could feel that his heart rate was up and his still healing right arm felt uncomfortable today in the plastic brace around his upper arm. He shifted his right arm in the thin sling around his tac vest. He could use his right arm, but resting it in the sling helped reduce stress on the upper part of his arm. It was probably just uncomfortable because he was feeling stressed, which pushed up blood pressure and increased inflammation in the body. It was understandable.

He'd been through something life-changing and he was anxious. It was understandable and he'd gone through the exact same explanations to countless patients over the years, but...

He took a deep breath, drawing on the techniques he'd learnt years ago to help him keep calm during surgery, focusing on steady counts for each of his in and out breaths to increase activity in his parasympathetic nervous system and calm his body down.

He could do this. It was just a briefing.

There were no Wraith, no enemies, and it was only for a few hours.

He could do this.

Down the far end of the Gate Room, the Gate started to light up. It was time to go then.

Letting out a noticeably still shaky breath, he started down the grand staircase, taking each step carefully. He'd found he'd started doing that all the time now – everything he did was slow, measured, and careful.

Rodney and John were stood at the foot of the stairs and were engaged in their usual bickering friendship. The two of them had also been personally invited today – John to represent Atlantis' military and Rodney to represent science. Colonel Sumner hadn't been too cheerful at just the three of them heading to the briefing, but John clearly had every faith in the Elite and his opinion had won out.

The final step reached, Carson stepped down to the Gate Room floor and John looked round with an encouraging smile. "You all ready to go, Doc?" He asked. Despite the fact that the Gate address they'd been given for the briefing was a complete unknown to them, John looked relaxed. Carson hoped he would absorb some of that by sticking close to the man today.

"I'm ready," Carson confirmed as he slid into the opening space between John and Rodney's shoulders.

"It'll be fine, Doc," John added, clearly proving that Carson wasn't hiding any of his anxiety.

"You sure you're okay for this?" Rodney asked carefully as the Gate turned loudly across the room. Rodney had been pretty protective over the last few days since the invite had come in.

"I'll be fine, Rodney," Carson smiled back at him. "Thank you." Rodney didn't say anything back, just kept pulling a worried frown. "We're going to be among allies," Carson added, which had been another fact that he'd been repeating to himself all morning. "It should be a very interesting day."

"Yeah, as long as _some_ people remember to behave themselves," John added pointedly to Rodney as the Gate activated in a glowing rush.

Carson felt his heart rate increase again, so he focused on Rodney's insulted look at John's comment.

"Don't _you_ start," Rodney objected.

Carson looked to John. "Did I miss something?"

"Carter gave him another talking to," John smiled. "Reminded him that there are going to be representatives there from every single member of the Alliance and that he's going to be representing Earth, the IOA, and the entire Milky Way galaxy today and that if he doesn't play nice she'll take his toys away."

Rodney spluttered his protest. "You were in that meeting as well; she was talking to you too."

"Yeah, sure she was," John gave Carson a pointed look and Carson managed to smile back. The distraction was helping a little, but sudden movement in the balcony overlooking them drew their attention. Colonel Carter was leaning on the railing and smiling down at them.

"You're all clear to go," she reported, which she could easily have done over the radio, but she liked the more personal touch style of leadership. It was a style that Carson really appreciated and remained deeply grateful that she had been assigned to them after they'd lost Elizabeth during the siege; far better than the gruff Colonel Sumner.

"We'll see you later," John grinned up at her, clearly looking forward to today's mission.

"I want you all back here in five hours, as planned," Carter reminded them.

"Yes, Ma'am," John added cheerfully as he headed forward, leading the way towards the glowing event horizon, Rodney quickly following.

Carson held back for a beat though and looked back up at the Colonel. She smiled at him, her look full of all the necessary encouragement and understanding that he needed. He smiled and nodded back up to her. He was determined not to let her down today.

He strode after John and Rodney, the two looking back as he caught up with them.

When they were barely a metre from the glowing surface of the Gate, John decided to add "Just remember there's gonna be loads of big military types there, so we need to keep our cool and not piss anyone off."

Carson had no doubt that was intended for Rodney, but he still nodded, picking up on the faintest edge of concern in John's voice now. Perhaps he wasn't quite as relaxed about this trip as he'd let on, or perhaps it was just Rodney's behaviour he was worried about. Either way, John had timed the warning just right so that Rodney had no time to object before they stepped into the wormhole's event horizon.

A bare half step behind the other two, Carson let out a long breath as he stepped into the watery glow. As always, he felt the faintest instinct to panic at stepping into what looked so much like water and therefore suffocating, but the bizarre sensation of wormhole travel hit almost immediately. As always, it felt like he was being stretched and swirled around, and then suddenly he was stepping out onto a new world in one whole piece. Though, it was instantly apparent that they had been delivered into a room rather than onto the surface of a planet, and sharply bright lights blinded him for a few moments before the lights dimmed. He blinked quickly and forms started to take shape in front of him, revealing security guard looking types stood in a line opposite, a rocky wall behind them. One of the group was stood further forward than the rest and he smiled politely.

"Greetings, Representatives from Atlantis. Ambassador Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard," the lead man nodded to John. John and Rodney were stepping down towards the man and Carson realised that the Gate was set up on a raised platform. "May I please scan your Beacon?" The lead security guard asked John.

"Sure," John answered as he waved his wrist and its newly installed Elite tech over the offered pad.

As Carson stepped down off the raised platform, he heard the Gate shutdown behind them. Glancing back round, he saw that all the walls were rock cut, and a glance up to the ceiling confirmed that they were underground. He suspected reasonably deep underground too considering the faint damp and heaviness he could feel that was very reminiscent of the caving he'd done as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award at school.

"Thank you, Ambassador," the security guard continued to John. "Please can you all proceed through the tunnel to the right, where there will be an inspection station waiting for you. All items brought with you are to be presented and will be scanned and inspected."

"Sure, thanks," John smiled as he led the way into the tunnel.

"What was with the bright lights?" Rodney complained the second they were alone in the rocky tunnel.

"It's a specific light frequency that disrupts Wraith vision," Carson explained, knowing the answer from his conversations with Imseti about her Wraith research.

The tunnel began to turn to the left and then widened up ahead. There were various tables set to the sides, behind which stood the now recognisable security staff, and there were various groups of other representatives stood at the tables having their things scanned. It was all very much like going through customs at the airport.

"How do you know about the anti-Wraith lighting?" Rodney asked as John led them towards a free table where a security member was waving them over.

"From the Elite scientists I've been communicating with," Carson supplied as he subtly studied the other groups of visitors as he following John.

"We should install them in Atlantis," Rodney insisted, his voice noticeably lower than usual.

"I've already suggested as much to Colonel Carter," Carson replied to him.

"No one told me," Rodney complained, but he looked away and said nothing more as they reached the customs table.

"Greetings," the security guard smiled at them. "Please present all items onto the table, including weaponry."

Carson glanced at John to follow his lead. John pulled out his sidearm and set it on the table before starting to take of his tac vest. Carson hadn't worn his sidearm today, but he was going to need to take off his tac vest, which was no simple thing. He drew his right arm out of its sling and unzipped the front of the vest, wondering how he was going to get the thing off without making a scene. Surprisingly though, Rodney was abruptly helping, drawing the vest down off Carson's arms.

"Thank you, Rodney," Carson smiled gratefully as Rodney set the vest on the table for him. It seemed Rodney was continuing to be very thoughtful and helpful. Carson was almost getting used to it.

As the customs guard started going through all their vests, Carson rested his arm back into the adjusted sling and glanced around at the other tables with interest. There were three people at each table, which suggested that the other worlds had also sent a military, science and medicine representatives. There was quite a variety of hairstyles and outfits, and several of them were glancing back at Carson and his table with obvious curiosity. One particular table drew Carson's attention where three large muscular males were stood at their table, and the youngest man was looking directly at Carson with an almost aggressive stare.

Carson looked away from the intense dreadlocked man.

"They're Satedans," John abruptly supplied from Carson's left and Carson glanced round at his friend. "The lead guy was the Commander of the Ballista warship part of the big Alliance Military Fleet. I can't remember his name right now," John nodded politely over towards the Satedans, but Carson didn't glance back round. "Teyla'll remember his name," John concluded as he looked back to the customs table.

Carson nodded, though decided not to point out that John had used his new wife's first name. He didn't usually do that, and it was only because the lovely lady had insisted Carson use her first name that he knew it. He'd made sure not to get involved in any gossiping about the new marriage, since it was pretty clear that John and the lovely Teyla Emmagan were very close. Rodney, Ford, and the equally lovely Lieutenant Cadman – Laura –all had their theories on John's relationship with his wife, but it was none of Carson's business.

"Thank you," the customs guard interrupted Carson's thoughts. "You may reclaim your items. Please now follow the tunnel on through to the auditorium."

With Rodney's help, Carson pulled his tac vest back on, wishing he hadn't had to wear the thing in the first place, but Colonel Carter had insisted. After all, the vests provided invaluable protection, but they were not easy for him to pull on and off right now. His tac vest on, Rodney having zipped it back up for him, they were ready to leave the table, and, again, John led the way, moving with obvious confidence despite not having here before that Carson knew. Carson was happy enough to follow his lead, and followed, Rodney at his side, between the last customs tables towards the tunnel ahead. As they walked, Carson noticed that the representatives at all the tables were all looking round to watch them pass. The looks didn't look noticeably hostile, but they were all very obvious.

"Get used to that here," Rodney muttered from Carson's right. "The looks and whispering. It's him," Rodney pointed at John as they entered the tunnel finally away from the stares. "He's an Alliance celebrity."

"Oh, yes, I had heard," Carson recalled, a wave of relief accompanying the explanation. The looks were curiosity not aggressive then. "And very popular with Alliance ladies too, I heard," he took the chance to tease John. Laura had told him how various groups of women had tried to get John's attention at the big Athosian Conference some weeks back.

John looked back at him and Rodney. "Not just in the Alliance," he played along.

"Kirk," Rodney muttered.

Carson chuckled, feeling a little bit more relaxed himself now. The tunnel now turned to the right and there was light up ahead. Another slight bend to the right brought them to the entrance of what had to be the auditorium. Carson couldn't see much behind three people stood in the entrance, but there was the unmistakeable sound of many voices chattering in a large space.

Moving closer, the three at the entrance appeared to be the welcoming party, and Carson recognised two of them immediately. The tall man on the left was an Elite warrior who Carson had met several times, though he could not recall his name, and beside him, was the scientist Silvar, who had visited Atlantis to study the Skerti recording. And beside the two men was a middle aged woman with a large smile.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard," the Elite warrior greeted John with a smile.

"Honoured Elite Halling," John smiled back as the three of them reached the welcome party.

Silvar smiled directly at Carson. "Doctor Beckett, I am so pleased you could make it today."

Carson was a little surprised at the kind comment, though perhaps it was more that Silvar was surprised that Carson had come at all. He felt acutely aware of the left side of his face and his arm in its sling. "I didn't want to miss it," Carson smiled back, making himself focus on being polite and not getting lost in his own insecurities.

The woman beside Silvar stepped forward though, drawing his attention instantly to her wide and smiling eyes. "Doctor _Carson_ Beckett?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes," Carson confirmed.

"I am Imseti," she gestured to herself with both of her hands.

Carson grinned at her, his 'pen pal' in the flesh. "I'm so pleased to meet you," he replied happily.

She reached forward for his free left hand and she gripped his hand in both of hers like they'd known each other for years. "Thank you for being here, I know that you have been concerned about your injuries. How is your right humeral fracture?" She asked, her eyes going to his right arm brace.

"Mostly healed, it's just muscle weakness now," he admitted, lifting his right elbow to show her that he had good mobility in the limb despite the faint discomfort.

"Good, good," Imseti smiled, still holding onto his other hand. "I am truly looking forward to discussing our findings on the new enemy with you, and, if you have time, perhaps we can discuss those latest Wraith serum manufacture results."

"I'd love to," Carson agreed readily. "We finally managed to synthesise the proteins in Atlantis."

"Excellent," Imseti grinned. "How did you-"

"There will be plenty of time later to confer and discuss technical details," Elite Halling interrupted.

"Of course," Imseti let go of Carson's hand and quickly stepped back into line with the Elite and Silvar. "I do apologise, Honoured Elite." Then her eyes met Carson's again and he exchanged another smile with her.

"I look forward to conferring with you too, Doctor McKay," Silvar added into the faint pause. It was a far more professional greeting, but Carson far preferred Imseti'.

"I am very much looking forward to it," Rodney stated in a weirdly polite rote like way that Carson barely stopped himself from glaring round at Rodney in shock. To his left, Carson swore he could feel John restrain himself as well.

"You may sit anywhere in the auditorium," Silvar continued, indicating the way past him, Halling and Imseti, "all technical details, scans and research results are provided on an electronic pad for you to take away with you. Please collect a pad each from the table round to the right of the auditorium floor."

"Thanks," John smiled.

"Thank you for attending today," Elite Halling nodded to John.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," John replied casually as he led the way past the greeting party and finally into the auditorium.

The second they were away from the greeters, John looked round at Rodney with a questioning frown. "I'm very much looking forward to it?" John repeated Rodney's former comment with disbelief.

"I was being polite," Rodney countered.

"I guess it'll take time to get used to it," John teased, but Carson's focus slid away to the massive room they'd entered.

It would probably be more accurate to describe the auditorium as an 'amphitheatre'. The seating was set up and backwards in a huge semicircle rising many floors high so that the place surely could seat at least a thousand people. Glancing down to lower levels, Carson could see that the seating was rather like the old lecture halls he'd attended at University, with a small desk panel running along each level for the attendees to rest their work on.

Idly following John and Rodney, Carson glanced to the left to see what all the seating faced, to find that it was simply a raised dark platform set in front of what appeared to be an entire wall of computer screens! The screens were working together though, currently displaying a massive schematic of a Wraith Hive. Carson paused to watch the turning ship. He was becoming reasonably well versed in Wraith biology, but Wraith tech was not one of his strengths, but even he could see that the displayed Hive was malformed.

Dropping his gaze from the turning ship, he ran his eyes over the narrow raised stage below it, spotting a few more familiar faces including the lovely Teyla and...

Carson froze as he recognised his dark-skinned Elite angel who had visited him in the Infirmary. He was here, in the flesh again. On the very day that Carson had taken his first mission off-world again. He'd wanted the opportunity to speak to the Elite man again, to thank him for his intervention, but he'd not expected to run into him so soon.

"Carson?" Rodney's voice caught Carson's attention and he glanced back round to see that he had fallen way behind and John was already at a table holding stacks of Alliance electronic pads, while Rodney was looking at him worriedly. "You okay?" Rodney asked.

"Yes," Carson quickly shook off the strange sense of coincidence in seeing his angel again. "I just recognised someone I know," he explained as he headed towards Rodney.

"Someone else you know?" Rodney asked with a grimace of confusion. "How do you know so many people here?"

"Guys," John arrived, two pads held out for them. "I've set them to the English translation." Carson took his with his left hand. "Speaking of knowing people," John gestured with his chin off to the right, and Carson looked round to see a man and woman approaching. The man was grinning widely as he stretched his hand out to John as they arrived.

"It is good to see you, Lieutenant Colonel," the man shook John's hand enthusiastically.

"Guys, this is Inifee," John grinned. "He's the Elite's _best_ pilot."

Inifee waved off the compliment. "What's flying through tornados to pilots like us?"

John laughed and stretched his hand out to the woman. "Seeal," He smiled at her. "This is Seeal," he repeated unnecessary to Carson and Rodney. "She also works for the Elite."

Carson recognised the name, but couldn't recall where from. John's reports on his adventures in the Alliance had held a ridiculous amount of detail and people's names, and Carson hadn't read any since the accident.

"Inifee, Seeal, this is Doctor Beckett; he's Earth's top medical healer and our expert on everything Wraith," John introduced.

"Well, no, there's plenty of excellent doctors on Earth," Carson quickly corrected, feeling more than a little embarrassed at the exaggerated introduction as he shook Inifee's hand with his left hand, and then Seeal reached out her hand to him. He shook the tall serious looking woman's hand, aware of her gaze running over the scarred and healing left side of his head with unemotional interest. Her gaze reached his eyes and she shook his hand with an exceptionally strong grip and then smiled politely at him as she let go of his hand.

"And this is Doctor McKay, he's one of our resident geniuses," John now introduced Rodney.

"A genius in which field?" Seeal asked Rodney as she shook his hand.

Rodney noticeably winced at her handshake and made a show of shaking out his squeezed hand. "All of them," he boasted back.

One of Seeal's black eyebrows arched up with either amusement or judgement. "Well there's no shortage of geniuses in this room," she replied. She spoke with a more noticeable accent than Carson had heard from the others he'd met from the Alliance, but then, he supposed, most of those he had met had been Elite warriors.

"There sure are a lot of people here," John was looking around the room, though Carson noticed John's gaze shifted to and from the small stage where Carson had last seen Teyla.

"Including three Genii, by the way," Seeal added pointedly to John.

"Where?" John snapped his formerly wandering attention back to Seeal.

"Sat _way_ back in the top left up there," she turned and pointed up to the far back of the raised amphitheatre seating.

Carson looked along the top row of seats and immediately spotted three Genii uniforms. He'd not considered that the Genii would be here today. He imagined that couldn't be all that pleasant for John.

"Anyone we know?" Carson asked John.

"Yes," John muttered darkly. "The one on the far left is General Maloo. He was the guy who was first in line for Honoured Elite Emmagan's Political Marriage."

"Before you tempted her away," Seeal added with no small amount of tone in the words. Carson pulled his attention down from the distant and watching Genii to see that Seeal was looking at John with a teasing pointed look.

John pretended to ignore her. "Looks like Maloo survived Kolya's coup then. Shame," John muttered as he purposefully turned his back on the seating and the watching Genii.

"He was part of it," Seeal replied.

"Really?" John looked at her sharply.

"Please, you think Kolya's the kind of man who doesn't fill his powerful roles with his trusted favourites who helped him?" Seeal asked.

"Good point," John agreed.

"They're not going to try anything here, are they?" Rodney asked worriedly glancing up at the Genii and back.

"Not in front of the Elite," Inifee was the one to reassure Rodney, stepping slightly closer, forming the five of them into a huddle. "Besides, rumour has it that the Elite have threatened the Genii to keep a very specific large distance away from anyone from Atlantis." The choice of the top back seats made more sense to Carson now.

"Rumour?" Seeal asked Inifee doubtfully. "Where'd you hear that? In the Sythus canteen?"

"Sure," Inifee shrugged with a grin.

"As long as the Genii keep out of the way," John concluded. "I didn't expect to see you two are here today," he asked Inifee and Seeal, clearly changing the subject away from the subject of Kolya and the Genii.

"That's because we were there," Seeal indicated the displayed turning Hive ship.

"Really?" John asked with clear interest.

"In a ship skimming right along the Hive's belly," Inifee supplied with an excited smile that only a pilot could appreciate.

"And right in the middle of the crossfire between it and the Fleet," Seeal put in with less enthusiasm.

Carson tuned out of the conversation, glancing back over his shoulder towards the stage to see that his angel was still in conversation, but another familiar face was looking his way. Teyla smiled at him as she stepped down from the stage and headed across the auditorium floor.

"Sheppard, your entirely platonic wife is on her way," Seeal noted and Carson was barely able to suppress his smile as he glanced at John.

"Shouldn't you be back at the Facility holding Oneakka...'s hand?" John asked Seeal with a pointed pause in his question.

Seeal narrowed her eyes at John's retaliation. Carson was pretty sure Oneakka was the name of one of the Elite warriors mentioned in John's reports. "I don't hold _any_ part of Oneakka, thank you," she told John firmly, but John grinned, clearly feeling he'd won by getting that reaction out of her.

"_Honoured Elite_ Oneakka," Inifee told Seeal, using the honorific title you were supposed to use when talking about Elite in the Alliance.

Seeal sighed dramatically at Inifee. "Did Madesh tell you to do that?"

Carson glanced back round to where Teyla was approaching their small circle, John already breaking away from the huddle to meet her. Anyone would have to be blind not to see the very natural happy smiles shared between the married couple. Carson glanced away as the two exchanged the usual Athosian forehead touching, and noticed Seeal giving a pointed look to Inifee at the couple.

The Athosian greeting over, Teyla and John joined the circle. "Good day to you all," Teyla smiled at them all. "Dr McKay," she smiled specifically to Rodney who smiled back almost shyly and still clearly in his polite and quiet mode. Clearly whatever Colonel Carter had said to him earlier had had an impact.

Teyla then turned her lovely smile to Carson and, as she was stood right next to him in the circle, she turned to face him. "I am very pleased that you were able to attend, Dr Beckett," she told him kindly.

"Carson," he corrected her with a smile, as she had used his first name during her stay in Atlantis when she had visited him almost daily.

"Of course," she smiled. "Have you met Imseti yet?" She asked as she glanced round, presumably to find the scientist. "She was very much looking forward to meeting you."

"I did, though very briefly," Carson answered her. "I hope I can get some time to talk with her later. It's so nice to finally meet the lady behind the letters."

Teyla smiled. "There should be plenty of time. Though, if you need anything to be comfortable through the day, do ask. There is a side room which you are free to use if you need some time to rest."

"Thank you, Luv," Carson smiled and then considered that perhaps she might be able to help in another way. "Do you think it would be possible for me to have a quick word with the Elite gentleman who visited me in Atlantis?" He subtly indicated where the Elite was stood up on the stage.

"Massa?" Teyla reminded him of the man's name. "Of course," she nodded, her eyes full of something close to compassion. "You are free to go speak with him or anyone here."

"Thank you." Carson glanced to John, "I'll just go have a quick word?" He checked.

"Sure, Carson," John nodded.

Carson shared another smile with Teyla and then headed away from the group, crossing the flat floor towards where there were large steps up to the stage. As he crossed the open space, he tried to plan what he could say to interrupt the Elite in their conversation up on the stage. But it wasn't necessary in the end, as Elite Massa had looked round and noticed him approaching. Carson watched as Massa said something to the people he was with and then broke away and started down off the stage to meet Carson's approach.

Carson quickly ran through what he could say, though none of it expressed how grateful he felt towards this man.

"Doctor Beckett," Massa smiled as Carson reached him. "It is good to see you here."

"Honoured Elite Massa," Carson used the full title and found himself kind of bowing his head slightly. From his sick bed, Massa had seemed massive and now, with both of them stood together, he was just as big. Massa was a tall and wide-shouldered man, though his smile was far softer than during their first conversation.

"You look much stronger than when I last saw you," Massa noted.

"I am, thank you," Carson replied. "I wanted to thank you for your intervention," his voice almost caught slightly to relive not only the darkness he had been in until Massa's brief appearance but in recalling what Massa had shared of his own pain. "I can't tell you how much it has helped me."

"We all need people to remind us of who we are when we lose our way," Massa replied philosophically.

Carson nodded at yet more wise words. "Aye, and I'm very grateful. Are you well?" He asked, his gaze drawn to Massa's bare forearm, where the man's own scars looked well healed.

"I am doing well, thank you," Massa replied and then paused thoughtfully. "Though, as a Healer on Earth, do you have experience in caring for young infants?"

"Yes," Carson nodded, though somewhat surprised by the question.

"How do you care for teething babes on your world? Do you have some special medicine that helps them?" Massa asked.

Carson felt an instant burst of confidence. This was a subject he knew and if Massa needed some advice, he felt eager to offer some small thing in return or Massa's wise words. "There are a few medications you can use to help with their pain, though I have found one of the best methods is a chilled teething ring," Carson explained.

"Chilled teething ring?" Massa asked with sudden intense interest that had a slightly desperate hopeful edge that Carson recalled from all too many parents during his training years in Paediatrics. "What is that?"

000000

Halling checked the list and saw that everyone had arrived and a glance towards the side table confirmed that all of the electronic pads had been handed out, so it was time to begin. With a nod to Silvar, who triggered the preparation chimes, Halling collected up his tiny control panel for the massive display screens and headed towards the centre of the slim stage. The general hubbub of the auditorium had shifted into the last minute conversation of people finding seats, and he looked out across the sea of faces, picking out familiar ones among the crowd. He saw that Teyla had selected a seat halfway up the tiered levels, sitting alongside Sheppard, the other Atlantis representatives to his left, and then Seeal and Inifee beside them. In the row above them, Ronon was visible leaning forward in his most central seat, his gaze catching Halling's. Halling nodded to his friend and Ronon grinned back. The Satedan was looking far more rested than the last time Halling had seen him, which implied that his infant boy was hopefully getting more sleep of late.

From Ronon, Halling shifted his eyes up and around the levels of seating, a few last people negotiating their way along the lines to the last available places. Together, they all represented the very finest of experience and intellect within the Alliance, but also from Atlantis, so this room now included not only knowledge from another galaxy, but access to the Ancestral City's ancient database. It was the best that he had hoped for today.

It struck him that had Sitayi' worst prediction come to pass, this sharing of knowledge and preparation for the likely battle against the Skerti would never have been possible. Had she not warned him, and had Oneakka not striven with his last breath to get help to him, then that Skerti Queen would simply have escaped into the ether, or perhaps been destroyed in the weapons fire of the battle with the Military Fleet. But now they had her body and the Skerti Drive, but, most importantly, forewarning.

Silvar triggered the chimes one last time and the room dropped into quiet with just the last shifts of people settling into their seats and the occasional cough. Halling waited a little longer, all eyes focusing on him. After a few more moments, the massive room fell into complete silence.

He had repeatedly gone through all the military and science data on the pads in every attendee's hands, had worked alongside various Elite and staff, even employing Oneakka's assistance from his sickbed, to ensure everything was recorded clearly. However, he had not precisely planned his words for this presentation. As an Elite he was familiar enough with presenting important information to large groups, since it was a vital aspect of Elite work to lead military forces into battle. He felt no self-consciousness with all eyes on him, but he did feel the weight of importance of today.

"Greetings to all," he began, his voice carrying easily in the acoustically designed auditorium, but also aided by several microphones set into the stage. "You each have an electronic pad which holds all the technical specifications and research information on all that will be presented today. You are free to take the pads away with you, but the information is to be considered controlled, high level information and is not to be made publically free. On the initial page of your pads you will see an agenda for today's briefing. The briefing will cover three fields, as represented by each of your fields of expertise: military, engineering science, and biological science. The first part of the briefing will be a presentation by myself on the military engagement with the Skerti, then Silvar, Lead of Elite Engineering Research and Development, will present the findings of the Skerti Drive tech, and, finally, Imseti, Lead of Elite Forensics and Biological Research and Development, will present details from the dissention of the Skerti body. After that, we will have a midday meal and then return for an open question and answer session, which will then be followed with time for each of your experts in their respective fields to meet to discuss what has been presented. Does anyone have any questions about today's process?"

Halling looked around the sea of faces, but no one raised a hand or spoke. A good beginning then.

"Very well," Halling lifted the control to the display screens behind him, which currently showed a simple turning schematic of the Rogue Hive. He triggered the first of the long length of visual presentations he had prepared. "This is our most detailed composite image of the Rogue Hive that violated our territory," he glanced up towards the new images crossing the large wall of screens. A series of pictures played showing the deformed Hive from various angles. "As you can see, the Hive's hull was grown into an abnormal shape and you will immediately identify the extra drive pod here." At the touch of his thumb on the control, the images slid into close up details of the lump of the Hive hull in question. "Within this was discovered the means by which the Hive was able to jump to four separate locations within our space, able to travel vast distances without the need for standard hyperdrive technology."

The images slid into drive pod, presenting a variety of pictures of the Skerti Drive from schematics, scan data, and visual images taken when the drive was removed from the Hive.

"As you can see, it is not Wraith tech and, though the exact method by which it allows this new form of space travel is still unclear, it is clear that the drive when active created a powerful and highly destructive radiation. This partially explains why the Hive's hull was so thick, as it provided structural support against the damage caused by the radiation, but the reinforced hull may also have provided some protection during the actual unknown form of space travel."

Halling turned slightly to watch the next series of displays. "As you can see, the damage to the Hive from the radiation is as surprising as it is extensive. When my team boarded the Hive in the Arkinian System, the floors, walls, and ceilings were literally dissolving apart." There was some whispering as everyone watched the various images taken of the inside of the Hive as well as sensor readings from his own pad that he'd had while onboard the Hive. "However, the damage was not solely limited to the Hive itself," he triggered the next series of rather gruesome images of dead Wraith. "The Wraith onboard were themselves being damaged by the radiation on a cellular level. From the dissentions undertaken on some of these bodies, it has been estimated that, had the Hive not been stopped in the Arkinian System when it was, the Wraith onboard would have been dead within a day from internal damage."

Halling triggered up one particular picture of a dead Wraith's naked torso. "As you can see, these Wraith were not only sickly in general, but they are noticeably emaciated. As far as our tests show, the majority of the Wraith onboard had not feed for weeks or up to two months. Due to the need for their bodies to deal with the damage from the radiation, their bodies grew far thinner than what we would expect to see in just months without feeding. We have to then ask, given that their Hive had the ability seemingly jump anywhere in the galaxy as needed regardless of distance, why did they not jump to a planet outside our space and simply feed on an unprotected planet to help them recover from the effects of the radiation? It was apparent to those of us on the Hive that the Wraith onboard were mentally as damaged by the radiation as they were physically, and dissentions show that their brains were as severely damaged as their Hive. However, given that even the weakest and confused of creatures usually will still know how to feed themselves, was there another factor at play that prevented them from feeding?"

Halling triggered another series of scans of the Hive taken from his own pad. "As you can see from this scan of the Wraith within the Hive, there is one life-sign showing up far warmer than the rest. This is the Skerti individual that I encountered on the Hive."

He turned to look back out at his audience, all of them staring silently at the displays.

"During our mission onboard the Hive, a Wraith informed my colleague that the Skerti had pretended to be a Wraith Queen. After detailed examination of the Wraith bodies, and salvaged pieces of Wraith fighters taken from the Hive's bays, we have concluded that all of the Wraith onboard were made up of survivors from different Hive groups that had been part of the Nest System battle. We therefore believe that the Skerti Queen first somehow obtained a normal legitimate Hive and then set about gathering up stranded groups of Wraith, probably all looking for retaliation against us, to help her invade our space. Those Wraith were apparently, according to our Wraith informant, duped into believing she was one of them."

There was whispering from the seats, but he turned back to the screens.

"This is further confirmed by the fact that, when our salvage teams entered the Queen's Chamber within the Hive, they found a large pile of thirty eight dead Wraith," a new image appeared of the unpleasant pile of dead blood-splattered Wraith bodies. "Each were killed by the Skerti herself, as they all display her unique feeding method, which Imseti will set out for you later, and they were all piled up in a corner of the Chamber out of view from any Wraith visiting her chamber. There was also, unusually, a long fabric-like room divider put up in front of the Queen's throne, which presumably was in place to help her conceal her true nature."

He ran through the images of the strange Wraith fabric, though it had been partially dissolved by the time the salvaging team had reached the chamber.

"As the Skerti showed no signs of being damaged by the drive tech's radiation herself, it is possible that it did not affect her in the same way as the Wraith, or, more likely, she was feeding off the Hive's Wraith in order to stave off the damage to her own body. Clearly, the Skerti had no affection for the Wraith she was leading in her Hive. This is also backed up by our Wraith informant, who named the alien as a Skerti, and reported that her species were thought to be a deadly ancient myth to the Wraith and clearly he believed her to be something to fear."

There was more quiet chatter in the auditorium, no doubt all agreeing with that conclusion.

"Considering her duplicity and need to remain undiscovered by the Wraith she was leading, it is possible that it was the Skerti, in her role as their Queen, who was denying the Wraith the opportunity to feed and thereby keeping them weak and easily manipulated as she led the Rogue Hive into our space. Considering the short timeframe of each the invasions into our space, it is our belief that she was testing our defences, perhaps the Wraith as well, and possibly even the drive tech. During our salvage work on the Rogue Hive, we were unable to locate any useable information from the Hive's database, mainly due to damage from the radiation, but it is also likely that the Skerti deleted anything useful from the database before she attempted to escape."

Halling turned back to the screens as he set a new series of scan data across the display. These were again taken from his own pad and showed all the sensor readings he had captured during his pursuit of the Skerti Queen down through the Hive. "During the Elite mission on the Hive, unaware at the time of the true nature of the Queen, I worked my way down through the ship's floors and cornered her in the Queen's escape craft. What you are about to see is a holographic re-enactment of my subsequent battle against the Skerti Queen. This was compiled by my own recollections, a staff member's recollections who was later present, sensor pad data, as well as scans of the Hive, the escape craft, and the Skerti Queen's body after the fact. The Skerti did not communicate verbally, but rather used a very powerful, and considerably painful, method of telepathy. Therefore, we have had to recreate the Skerti' voice, but further details of my experience in communicating with her are set in my report on your pads."

He tapped a control and the lights within the auditorium dimmed to black and he triggered the recording of the recreation to start. He didn't need to watch it play through himself, not only because he'd been through the actual event, but because he'd spent numerous hours building the re-enactment in the Generator to capture everything as accurately as possible.

So, instead, he watched the faces watching it as the recording's audio of his own cautious breathing played over the crunch of his boots in the recreated escape craft. With the light of the screens above him, the faces in front of him were cast in dim eerie lighting and he could see that all eyes were wide and intently focused on the drama he had lived through. The drama that he had barely survived and feared for so long.

There was a loud gasp as something happened and he glanced up to see that the Skerti Queen had dropped from the ceiling of the escape craft and the fight had started. He turned back to the watching faces. It was very obvious which in the room were the military representatives from each Alliance member, as they were the ones sat forward, watching the battle with intense experienced eyes, while their science compatriots looked far more shocked at the drama they were watching.

His own voice cried out and then grunted loudly in the recording and he could almost hear his own body and muscles straining as he fought the Skerti, and he saw a few people in the audience partially cover their faces. And then came the blasting sound of Seeal's energy weapons fire that had stopped the Skerti, forced the creature to turn towards her new attacker and had given him the chance he'd needed to save himself. He turned back towards the recording in time to see Seeal's last blasts of weapons fire hit the Skerti and then his own blade slice up and round, decapitating the Skerti, which was greeted with loud gasps in the audience. He watched as the Skerti' head dropped from her body and rolled away.

He triggered the end of the recording and lifted the lights again. A sudden rise of applause greeted him and he looked round, surprised, to see the audience applauding him. He'd not expected that reaction.

As the applause fell away, he started up again. "As far as we are aware, that was the one and only encounter we have ever had with the Skerti to date. However," he paused for dramatic effect, "it is not the first time we have encountered their technology. In the Arkinian System, just prior to the battle at the Nest System, the Elite encountered a ship which we have previously named the 'Seed Ship'. You will have already been made away from previous briefings that this ship was unusual and included a combination of organic and metallic tech, and that from them, invading 'slug controlled robots' targeted the Elite ship Sythus. Subsequent comparisons now show that these two unique pieces of tech are now believed to be Skerti tech. The metallic samples from all three are identical, showing the exact same time dates and manufacturing techniques."

A low whispering filled the auditorium.

"We also believe that, before its purposeful self-destruction, the Seed Ship had engaged and destroyed at least two Hive ships, so this adds further weight to the theory that the Skerti see the Wraith as an enemy. As both of these encounters in the Arkinian System have occurred within bare months of each other, and the Wraith informant stated that the Skerti were believed to be ancient myths, it is our conclusion that the Skerti are a re-emerging threat to this galaxy. Where they have been for thousands of years is undetermined, but our best guess at this time is that they left the galaxy and have now decided to return. It is therefore the aim of the Elite now to hunt down any indications of their presence in the galaxy."

He set a new series of images playing on the display screens, a wide solar system stretching across the wall.

"So far the only common feature of the three discoveries of Skerti tech is the Arkinian System. Though this solar system is devoid of any intelligent life, and has no Portal, there are still basic life-forms living within one moon. That moon also once held a very old Wraith base, but this was purposefully destroyed by the Wraith, possibly during a battle with the Skerti Seed Ship at that location. It is also possible that the Skerti chose this location because the Arkinian System is so close to the border between our space and the Wraith. If looking to gather intel on both our sides and observe how we are fighting one another, the Arkinian System is a good point to do so. However, it is also possible that, according to some theories regarding the Skerti' drive tech, that Arkinian may be an important point for the new jump tech. Either way, investigations into the system are underway and any further discoveries with be shared.

"Turning then to other avenues available to track down the Skerti, the Elite have begun deep scans of the galaxy outside our territory, looking for any indications of unusual readings or activity that may be this new enemy. Atlantis are assisting us with this endeavour, but, so far, nothing conclusive has been found. However, the Elite are also implementing a tried and tested method that was used in hunting down concealed Hive ships on various planets. We are looking at local folklore and any stories that have been recently shared among starfaring people. It could be that previous stories we had attributed to the Wraith, may actually reflect Human encounters with Skerti, both modern and ancient. We are also seeking to make contact with the Travellers, but so far they have decided not to respond to any contact signals."

Halling triggered a new series of images across the screens. "Otherwise, our only other significant avenue of investigation is an ancient recording discovered by Atlantis. These images are taken from that recording and are believed to show actual Ancestors," there was some murmuring at that announcement. "The recording is believed to be an Ancestral emergency beacon, possibly sent out from an Ancestral craft, and it includes a warning to the Ancestors who once lived in Atlantis to beware of the Skerti. This is the only exact mention of the Skerti we have outside of the Wraith informant and the Skerti alien itself. Atlantis is currently searching the Ancestral database in the city for further details of the recording and those in it, but it appears that the information was either not recorded, the warning was never received, or perhaps relevant information was deleted by the Ancestors themselves. Atlantis is looking into this further and Elite scientists have been assisting in the investigation."

Halling shifted the screens to a holding image of the deformed Hive and turned back to his audience.

"The pads you have been given provide far more detail on what I have presented, but so far all planets, moons, and space-stations have been provided with the radiation frequency emitted by the Skerti Drive, so it is currently our only early warning system if the Skerti should again invade our territory. Otherwise, our only tactic now is to seek out the Skerti wherever they may be hiding from us. Therefore, the Elite and Military Fleet are comprising a list of targets to investigate outside our borders and scouting missions to those locations will shortly be organised. The Elite will keep all members updated on this progress and we request that each member world undertake their own database and historical searches for anything that may be linked to the Skerti."

Halling glanced around at the faces looking from him to the screen behind him. There was an air of anxiety in the air now, everyone one focused and frowning now that they had been presented with the name and face of the new enemy.

Next Silvar would present them with the unfolding research his team had been undertaking on the Skerti Drive, but it was clear to Halling that he had provided a sobering presentation to all those watching. If they had hoped to simply find a clear and easily defeated new enemy that the Elite were already crushing under their heel, then they had been very much mistaken.

As Halling introduced Silvar and moved off the stage, he still felt a burst of success in his chest. As somewhat unpleasant and unnerving today's information would be for those here, it was still far better than had Sitayi' gravest prediction come to pass.

At least now they were prepared and forewarned, and he was determined to be at the forefront of it, ensuring that hope would lead to victory.

00000  
TBC


	19. Lost in Translation

**Note:** Apologies for the long delay since last posting – it's that time of the year when I have a work-related exam to take and an entire thick textbook to memorise! The actual exam had been delayed by lockdown restrictions, but looks like it should be at the end of this month. Most of my time outside of work hours has been spent revising, but I've really been missing posting, so thought I'd put out something at least before the exam. Any positive exam-passing vibes, thoughts, and prayers please send them my way. I hope everyone is well and healthy. Thank you to those who reached out to check I was okay or to gently nudge me to get posting again. Many thanks.

00000

**DAY 19 – Briefing **

**Chapter 19 – Lost in Translation**

Halling had spoken very well, as he did always. He had a deep commanding tone that held one's attention and his report had been uncluttered with the details that were readily available to everyone on the supplied electronic pads. Teyla glanced down at her own pad resting on her lap. She already had seen every piece of information held on the pad, including today's most recent updates, but she had still glanced at the salient details as Halling had spoken. In particular, she had once again studied the images of the Wraith bodies found in the Rogue Hive's Queen's Chamber, but Imseti had far more to supply when she was to speak later on the Skerti and the bodies. Though first Silvar was to speak on the research into the Rogue Hive ship and the alien drive tech, and she watched as the scientist strode out across the narrow stage to take up the space that Halling had just vacated.

Lowering her eyes back to her pad, she tapped through to the start of Silvar's report. In the darkened space of the auditorium, the little lights of the pads' screen glowed along the lines of seats around her, but she let her gaze shift over to John's pad held in his hand, his elbow resting on his thigh. His knee was a warm solid presence against hers, and was the only contact they could afford in such a public setting. The urge to reach out and run her hand long his strong warm leg, to draw his attention back to her, was almost overwhelming.

It had only been a handful of days since they'd last seen each other, when they'd said a very polite and public goodbye before he and Lieutenant Ford had departed through the Facility's Portal back to Atlantis. Still, she had missed him desperately. It seemed that each time they parted ways that she felt his absence even more painfully. She'd done all she could to distract herself from the strange empty ache in her chest without him. She'd spent time sat beside Oneakka's bed - telling him further details of Atlantis and its inhabitants - she'd sparred with Halling and others in the gym, and attended several ongoing emergency Military Council meetings on behalf of the Elite. The invasion of the Rogue Hive into Alliance space had caused a great deal of anxiety among the most powerful within the Alliance, and the military leaders of all worlds, space-stations, and systems were under considerable pressure to try and guarantee the safety of their populations from another sudden abrupt, and seemingly unstoppable, new method of space travel that the Skerti had used to invade Alliance space.

While working as an occasional Elite representative to the Military Council she had had to deal with the High Council all too frequently, and it was nearly always a struggle and a test of her patience; however, it seemed that the High Council were now especially unnerved and combative. She suspected that it was not only due to the Rogue Hive issue and the new enemy threat of the Skerti, but also political pressures. Kolya's abrupt and shockingly successful rise to power was still creating political waves throughout the Alliance. Cowen, though a tyrant and nearly always unpredictable, had been in power for a significant length of time over a stable Genii Confederation within the Alliance, but in one swift and complete strike, Kolya had not only kicked Cowen aside, but was clearly responsible for his murder. Though the propaganda Kolya was sending out was somewhat obvious, it appeared to have been greeted with great delight by the Genii population who had been growing weary of Cowen's rule. For other planetary and system leaders who had been Cowen's contemporaries, such a successful coup had clearly caused significant unease. If it could happen to Cowen, then were their own seats of power as safe as they believed? And with the return of the threat of a culling from the formerly safe skies of Alliance planets, it was a growing political threat for leaders to provide security and promises of protection to their peoples, even if that just wasn't possible yet.

Today's briefing was hopefully going to help though, for all Alliance members would now have access to the latest reports and research into the Rogue Hive and the new Skerti threat that had been gathered by Halling's teams. Hopefully, as had always been the case for the Alliance, their combined strength, intelligence, and scientific advancement would provide results and help them all find a way to stop the Skerti threat.

As Silvar triggered the wall of screens to show a photographic image of the Rogue Hive, she let her gaze shift to John once more. This time he sensed her attention and looked round. The lights of the wall screens glowed across the left side of his face, adding a lovely shine to his eyes as he smiled at her, while the other side of his face was cast in handsome shadows. She smiled back at him, letting herself show some of the affection she wished she could openly express were they not in such a public location. His leg shifted against hers a fraction, a limited but welcome caress.

"Welcome again everyone," Silvar's voice cut into the moment and she forced herself to look away from the enticing image of her John. Only to catch herself momentarily shifting her gaze back to him out of the corner of her eyes.

Forcing her attention forward to Silvar and the screens, she made herself focus on the important briefing and on the increased press of John's knee against hers.

"As Honoured Elite Halling explained," Silvar started, "I am Lead of Elite Engineering Research and Development and my teams were brought in to study both the Rogue Hive itself and the new alien drive tech found within in. I will first start with our discoveries regarding the Hive, though my report on your computer pads contains far more data for you to study, including all scan and test analysis results, I will present the salient points. As Honoured Elite Halling already detailed, the Hive ship was showing extensive and accelerating degeneration as a result of the damage sustained from the radiation emitted by the alien drive."

He turned and looked up at the screen as images began to play. "These images were taken every four hours over the days since the Hive was stopped. They show, quite vividly, the rapid collapse of the Hive's superstructure." Each image showed the progression of the collapsing and crumbling Hive in the open space of the Arkinian System. "The damage from the radiation destroyed all organic and inorganic matter within the ship and, we believe, it was only the natural regenerative properties of Hive ship fluids that enabled the ship to last as long as it did. However, the damage was irreversible and once the Hive's internal lifeforce stopped registering, the ship became an inert lump of dead matter, the scattering of which our movements in and around the Hive have only helped accelerate and we are now left with this." The images finished with a picture taken this morning of the remains of the Hive. It was barely recognisable as anything now, looking more like a piece of charred meat on two protruding grey bones floating in space.

"This last section of the Hive was the deepest part of the former ship and is where a Hive's lifeforce is centred. We expect this to break apart by the end of tomorrow," Silvar reported as he turned back to the audience. "Unfortunately, this damage also corrupted all computer systems within the Hive and we were unable to retrieve any useful data from any console or dataline. Outside of visual inspections and analysis of the radiation damage, the Hive itself provided little else for us to study. However, we have been able to ascertain that the Hive's exposure to the radiation was constant and most likely lasted for several weeks. This fact alone shows that no attempt was seemingly made to reduce the impact of the damage on either the Hive and its inhabitants by turning off the drive. As Honoured Elite Halling already presented, it is our conclusion that the Skerti Queen had no affection for the Wraith or the Hive, and was perhaps staving off damage to her own body by feeding on the Wraith. It is possible then that the radiation damage was a way of her controlling the Wraith population and, perhaps, purposefully killing them."

Murmuring at that conclusion quietly fluttered through the auditorium, and Teyla saw John share a few looks with Dr McKay and Carson beside him.

"Of course," Silvar continued, "such suppositions are not part of my teams' mandate, as we focus on the science involved. So, let us now focus on the recovered alien drive itself." Teyla swore she could feel the attentive focus of the auditorium increase as Silvar triggered the screen wall to show an image of a convex wall of Wraith webbing, with various tubules and wet membrane pipes running into it. "This was the initial view our team had upon entering the extra drive pod. As you can see, it appears that various Wraith power conducts had been rigged up into a standard Wraith organic wall structure, inside of which was housed the drive. When we removed the conducts and webbing layers," Silvar added, "we revealed this."

A new image showed the surprisingly small alien drive nestled within thick membranes, its metallic egg-shaped shell and front panels, including the uppermost purple crystal, sharply contrary to the Wraith tech around it. Whispers rose up in the audience and almost everyone sat forward in their seats, including John at her side, his thigh pressing further against hers as he stared at the display.

"And this is how it looked after we removed all Wraith organic matter," Silvar added and the next few images showed the drive as it was unplugged from the Hive, cleaned, and in the final image it was sat within the research station's isolation chamber, the drive's metal shell now gleaming.

On the other side of John, Teyla could hear Dr McKay whispering agitatedly about what he saw.

"As you can see," Silvar kept up his report, "the tech is _clearly_ not of Wraith origin. The outer metal shell is a mix of several metals, which ties in precisely with metal fragments studied from the Seed Ship and Slug Robot housings which were previously also encountered in the Arkinian System. Previous tests on the organic inner part of the Slug Robots dated that tech back to the Ancestral era." There were more whispers at that announcement. "Therefore, our current working theory is that these three pieces of tech are from the same origin and, most likely, date from the Ancestral era. Whether this means this tech is Skerti in nature and design, or whether they have utilised very old tech for their own means, we cannot say for certain."

Silvar turned his shoulder to the audience and looked up at the screens as a new image appeared, showing a closer look at the front of the drive. "Initial scans of the drive provided a very unique internal structure. These scan images move gradually through the drive and show a complex fusion of metallic, organic, and crystalline components inside.

John had sat back in his seat again revealing Dr McKay still leant forward on the other side of John, the scientist's electronic pad held in both his hands and the small screen displaying the images as playing on the screen wall.

"As many of you will, no doubt, immediately determine from the crystalline structures," Silvar continued, "there are significant similarities to Ancestral tech." Teyla saw Dr McKay nodding hurriedly at that conclusion as he dropped his attention to the pad in his hands, scrolling through graphs and lines of text of the report. "We have not yet attempted to disassemble the inner part of the drive," Silvar added, "but we were able to remove the outer shell that acted only as a protective casing."

The screens shifted to the drive now without its shell. The front panel of the drive, with its uppermost egg-shaped purple crystal, still remained in place, but around it there was a complex looking mix of organic whitish-green material and the identifiable ends of Ancestral-like crystals protruding out from deeper within the drive.

"We were able to carefully take tiny scrapings off one edge of a crystal and analyse it," Silvar triggered the screens to show the graph that was already on Dr McKay's' glowing pad screen. "As you can see, the results fit exactly into the parameters of Ancestral-made crystal circuits. This finding obviously presents a number of questions," Silvar understated as he turned to the audience. "Are the Skerti able to adapt Ancestral technology for their own uses? Perhaps the form of transport created by this drive was formerly designed by the Ancestors only to now be utilised by the Skerti for their own means? Or, perhaps, were the Skerti allies of the Ancestors and they shared technology? If so, this would be a unique case. We have never seen such cooperation in sharing technology from the Ancestors before now, and one has to wonder why."

Dr McKay began whispering something to John that sounded hurried and excited.

"Nevertheless," Silvar continued, "it appears that there is Ancestral tech within the drive, which is something I am sure we will all discuss later. For now though, I shall move on to our very latest findings."

The screens shifted to an image of the drive now with various Alliance cables and wires attached to it. "We have been able to finally power the drive up to a very minimal level, which activated its basic systems. Using a spliced-in Wraith component that we found attached to the drive within the Hive, our computers were able to interface with the drive and identify some systems and it has provided us with a surprising amount of data."

Again Dr McKay was whispering to John, but Teyla couldn't make any of it out. John lifted a hand as if telling Dr McKay to be patient.

"Most significantly," Silvar stated only to pause and turn to the audience, drawing all eyes to him. Silvar had always had a slight flare for the dramatic, which Teyla had always put down to his desire to ensure his teams' findings were taken very seriously, but today it seemed intended to ensure all attention was fixed on him. "We have determined that the radiation emitted by the drive on the Hive was _not_ a normal function."

A faint and slightly confused silent pause seemed to hold the audience.

"It is our conclusion," Silvar continued, "that the drive was altered to specifically emit the dangerous radiation that we registered and that so adversely affected the Wraith. The drive had a reset function, which of note is a known system function found in all Ancestral tech, and once reset, the radiation was no longer emitted. As the Skerti Queen was able to outfit the drive into the Hive and she knew how to use it, this leads us to conclude that she purposefully set the drive to emit the radiation, most likely in order to damage, control and, perhaps, ultimately kill the Wraith and the Hive."

This conclusion had only been reached and reported by Silvar's team yesterday and Teyla now lowered her attention to her own pad to scroll through to the data in question. Not only did it add to the running theory that the Skerti were an enemy to the Wraith, but it also suggested a very subversive and oddly cruel way for the Skerti to kill the Wraith running the Rogue Hive for her. Was that the intent of one lone Skerti? Or was it a behaviour and intention shared by all of her kind? If, indeed, there were more Skerti.

John's knee shifted a little against hers, purposefully requesting her attention, so she looked up and around at him. He pulled an exaggerated expression to communicate that he found the report very interesting and she smiled back at him as she nodded.

"Now moving onto what we have been able to read on the drive when it was used to jump the Hive across our space," Silvar announced. "You will see here readings captured above Atreus and in the Arkinian System when the Rogue Hive appeared. As you can see on this display, the data recorded suggests that some aspect of subspace is being used for the transport, but seemingly without either a Portal wormhole or a hyperspace engine."

John dropped his attention to his pad, seemingly intent to listen and study the information, so she pulled her attention away from him to focus on the briefing once again.

"...now we do not know the method, but if we look at this graph here," Silvar continued. Teyla frowned at the display. This level of spacial dynamics and subspace science was beyond her. She understood the basics, as all Elite were taught, but the science of it had never quite made sense, but then she was a warrior and her studies had been focused in that direction.

John's knee nudged hers again, calling her attention and she willingly looked round to see that he held his pad on his leg pressed against hers and that the screen was glowing with lines of text. It was a standard note-taking programme on all electronic pads and one which she had taught him how to use back during the days of the Intergalactic Conference on Athos. During those talks, she and John had used the note-taking programme to communicate during the seminars so that he could ask her questions. The programme had a translation system so that John could type in his question in his own language and it would display the Alliance translation. Or as close as it could get. She and John had laughed over the translations it had come up with and they had started to use the pads to communicate to each other more with joking comments and sharing opinions during the Conference talks. It seemed that John had remembered and had found a way for them to talk in the public space of the auditorium.

She leaned a little closer to him to see the pad's screen lying on his strong thigh.

'_These Skerti do not present as friendly'_ – the screen displayed the pad's best translation of John's typed comment.

She settled her own pad on her leg next to John's, called up the note taking programme on the pad, selected the translation into John's language, and typed her reply to him.

'_I agree. It is a concern'_, she typed.

John leaned a little closer to see the screen, but it was clearly an excuse to lean his shoulder and arm up against hers. Like a hormonally charged teenager, just that simple act felt powerful and almost erotic. She leaned back in against him as much as possible, sure that anyone in the higher chairs above them would simply see her communicating with a translation programme with her alien Husband – a very innocent and understandable procedure.

John tapped in another comment on his pad and the translation played out for her to see. _'We remain unable to locate information about the Skerti in Atlantis'_.

As before in the Conference, she could not help finding the very formal language of the translation amusing considering it was from John. He never spoke so formally. One of the benefits of the Intergalactic Conference had been that the language experts had made great strides in understanding both John's language and for Atlantis to understand Alliance standard. However, the more casual aspects and lingo of a language would take further refinement for the linguists.

'_That perhaps suggests the Ancestors did purposefully conceal what they knew about them'_, she typed back to him.

"...and here, the output is not dissimilar to Portal readings," Silvar continued at the front of the auditorium. This part of the briefing clearly was as of little interest to John as it was for her. She supposed neither of them needed to be able to analyse the complicated data now showing behind Silvar. To John's left, Dr McKay was still leaning forward in his seat and nodding along with Silvar's briefing, though appeared to be muttering to himself as he looked from the wall screens to his pad's screen.

John finished typing a reply, so she dropped her attention back to his pad. _'The thing may have occurred that everything went stomach upwards and they concealed the thing_,' John's pad displayed.

She frowned, confused and somewhat amused at the bizarre translation as she re-read it.

'_Stomach upwards?'_ She typed to him.

John typed a reply on his screen. '_Moved towards a lower planetary pole_.' She frowned, still confused, so John tried again, and the translation provided '_Proceeded negatively'._

She nodded, understanding now though still faintly amused at the pad's version of John's turn of phrase. However, she believed she understood the meaning of 'stomach upwards' as presenting someone lying on their back, presumably knocked down, injured, or even dead, so she could understand the Earth phrase.

'_You believe that perhaps the Ancestors worked with the Skerti, but something when wrong and the Ancestors concealed it?'_ She checked and this time John nodded as he quickly typed a reply. He was getting much faster at finding the letters on the display.

'_I would gamble currency that the Ancestors involved up towards the neck and it went stomach upwards at great velocity'_, the pad summarised John's theory.

She had to cover her mouth to stop herself from chuckling at the translation, despite the seriousness of the discussion and event around them.

'_What occurred [possible question],'_ his pad screen displayed and his knee and shoulder both pushed a little firmer against hers.

She glanced at him to see his queried expression and the amused sparkle in his darkened eyes. She returned her attention to her pad.

'_The translation was amusing. It cannot convey how you speak_', she typed.

'_It is positive the computer pad cannot identify what I am thinking_', he typed and his shoulder shifted against hers in a way that was clearly suggestive.

She had to restrain her expression and the grin that wanted to control her face.

'_Have you missed me [possible question]'_ he typed next.

She angled her head as if thinking deeply on a problem and then typed her reply. '_Perhaps'_.

'_Good'_ he typed back. _'My quarters are cold without you there_'.

She grinned happily at the translated romantic comment.

She considered what to type back only a sudden tap on the top of her left shoulder snapped her head round, John doing the same, and they both parted to look up between them to see a pad held above her shoulder. She looked up to its owner only to remember that Ronon was sat behind her on the next tiered level of seats up from her and John. Ronon was leaning forward over his seat's little desk to hold his pad down towards her and he waggled it, encouraging her to take it.

She took his offered pad, but could already tell from the sparkle of amusement in Ronon's eyes what it would be about. She looked at Ronon's pad's screen to see it showed the same note-taking programme and Ronon had written her a message.

'_Marriage going well, I see'_.

00000

The writing tool ran a smooth line of ink along the thin refined paper, outlining squares, lines, arrows, and circles for trees.

It felt nice to have the paper pad back, his own from his Sythus quarters brought to him by Madesh during the younger man's babysitting duty.

With Halling, Seeal and Massa all at the official Skerti briefing, Oneakka's usual minders had seen fit to provide alternative and constant company. As if something would happen if he was left alone for a mere minute. He was stuck in his Healing Bay bed and could only walk a short distance with help, but apparently he wasn't allowed to be left unattended.

Madesh wasn't bad company at least, providing firsthand reports on the repairs to the Sythus. Oneakka had read all the reports on the ship's extensive repair and remodelling work, but he preferred Madesh's intel, as all the crew had been included in the work on adapting the Sythus to the latest improvements and refining Ru' new engine. It sounded like everything was well on track, though obviously the Sythus was clearly going to be battle ready well before him. Madesh was clearly enjoying helping out with the repair duties, though not as much as his and Seeal's social group's upcoming outing to Myrtle's.

Oneakka sneered at just thinking of the slimy, smooth-featured Myrtle.

He had made sure to brief Madesh on watching out for Myrtle, as he would bet currency that the snake would make a beeline for Seeal on her next trip to the club. Madesh had promised to be alert and ensure Myrtle was appropriate around Seeal. Not that Madesh could probably do much to keep Myrtle under control, but he was the best that Oneakka could arrange. He'd thought about maybe sending in Massa, but that would involve too many questions and insinuations and Massa got on too well with Myrtle for it to be helpful anyway.

Right now, Oneakka had few tools to be able to use.

The writing tool was good at least, though it was a little awkward to draw while lying on his side. He'd been studiously keeping to Meiyo's instructions that he lie on his sides and back, as well as being sat up. It was when he had to lie on his right side that was the worst, compressing his wound the most, but he did that side the least, and his scans had shown the frequent repositioning was working. He didn't feel quite as rough as he did last week. He still hurt pretty much all over, but at least his scalp had stopped itching all the damn time, his hair grown through enough now to stop him constantly wanting to scratch at his head. He was off the nausea-inducing medications and on a new stage of healing drugs, so his mood had improved somewhat, though he still felt the frequent urge to throw something across the room, but that was nothing new for him in recovery. He was at least starting to see real improvements, even if everyone else still wanted to watch him constantly like he was a child likely to hurt himself.

He'd gotten a little time alone now at least, having sent Madesh on an errand, so he'd started sketching. He turned the pad and added another line, trying to remember the details of the latest dream. 'Nightmare' would probably be a better description though. Not that he'd previously considered aimless fearful running from fields to abandoned barns in his dreams as nightmare material, but that was the narrative his brain seemed intent on repeating every night or anytime his drug-filled body fell asleep without his permission.

He'd hoped that maybe mapping out all the fields and buildings he could remember from his dreams would help. Maybe form a pattern that would help him get rid of the looping nightmares.

Except, nothing looked familiar or made any more sense to him now it was sketched out.

Yesterday he'd even gone into the Ugun database within the Facility's archives and pulled up some of the aerial view images that had been captured of his planet from orbit not long before the fateful last day.

He'd hoped that, maybe, what he'd been dreaming had been memories of real fields and places from when he'd been a child; but nothing had matched and he'd gotten...upset...as the images had reached his own family's village. When he'd found the actual training Field in the image from so long ago.

He'd shut the computer down and not looked at any of those images again. Not focused on the tiny dots in the images that had been real people...his people.

Some of those dots would have been his actual family, older than he remembered as they had been living their lives long after he'd left. He knew from an old off-world family contact that all of his siblings had been alive before...

He'd been stupid to think this would help. He tossed the pad down the bed and sent the writing tool after it.

It was all Halling's fault with his stupid Athosian religious superstitions. The dead don't talk. It had just been a hallucination on the precipice of death.

There was no more meaning to it than grief.

The sound of footsteps outside the door behind him were a welcome distraction and Oneakka looked over his shoulder to see Madesh enter through the open door.

"Honoured Elite," Madesh smiled with that little bow he did very time, despite the fact that he'd only been out of the room for barely a quarter of an hour. "I am sorry it took so long, but the necessary healing staff were in a meeting."

"It's fine, Madesh," Oneakka brushed away the unnecessary apology, besides it had given him some time alone. "Did you make the appointment?"

Madesh moved around the foot of the bed, heading up to his abandoned chair. "Yes, Honoured Elite. Apparently Meiyo is on her ward rounds currently, but I have scheduled in for her to visit you once she is free. The Healer I spoke to said it should not be too long." Oneakka watched Madesh's gaze shift away to the far wall where the time was displayed. "Honoured Elite Nalla is not here yet?" The next member of the babysitting rota.

"She's running late from a Military Council briefing," Oneakka restrained his tone. "You can go now."

"I can wait for her, Honoured Elite," Madesh offered with his large worried-looking eyes.

What did they all think was going to happen if he was left alone?

"_Go_," Oneakka ordered.

The big eyes lowered.

"You have your shift to get to," Oneakka added quickly, annoyed at himself for snapping at Madesh. The man was nothing but loyal. "You need to get back through the Portal to the Sythus."

"Of course, Honoured Elite," Madesh smiled now.

"I'll see you in three days," Oneakka reminded him, which would be the day after the outing to Myrtle's, so Madesh would be able to report back. "Remember to keep your eye on Myrtle."

"I promise, Honoured Elite."

"And report back to me right away if he's inappropriate."

"Yes, Honoured Elite." Madesh had gathered up his jacket and was moving around the end of the bed, heading back towards the door. "Are you sure there is nothing else you need, Honoured Elite?"

"Nothing, Madesh," Oneakka confirmed, working hard not to snap again.

Madesh bobbed his head as he shifted backwards towards the door. "Good Healing, Honoured Elite."

A small alarm echoed out of Oneakka's electronic pad on the side – his reminder to change position on the bed. Madesh paused. "Do you need help to-"

"_Get_ to your shift, Madesh," Oneakka ordered.

"Yes, Honoured Elite," Madesh quickly responded as he rapidly withdrew out of the room.

Alone again, finally.

Working carefully, Oneakka shifted himself over onto his back. His wound wasn't constantly painful as before, but it was still sensitive and any sudden movement wasn't worth the agony, so he moved slowly and carefully. Safely rolled onto his back, he reached for the controls along the right side of the bed-frame and found the necessary button. The head of the bed started to slowly rise, gently lifting his head and shoulders until it was high enough for him to be mostly sat up. Keeping his body as still, he then worked to adjust his pillows until he was as comfortable as possible.

Letting out an annoyingly relieved breath at the successful manoeuvres without triggering any pain, he reached for the paper pad again, lifting it up onto his lap. He considered the lines and circles once more.

Nothing new to see.

No revelations.

No meaning.

He considered what to do instead of staring at useless maps of nightmares. He could watch the actual Skerti briefing as it was available to Elite to watch live, but he knew everything being reported, and Halling would fill him in on anything interesting gained from the group discussions at the end of the day.

He could do some arm exercises, but his arms already ached from this morning's physical therapy. That level of exercise would have been barely a warm-up for him before, but now it easily exhausted him for the day.

He lifted the pad again, turned it, as if looking at the map from another angle would help.

Perhaps he could scan it into his electronic pad, compare it to the Ugun aerial images...

And what would that achieve?

Just more heartache.

His family were gone.

He didn't need stupid hope whispering there was meaning in nothing more than hallucinations and nightmares.

He closed his eyes, feeling the wash of despair threaten to overwhelm his defences.

If only the initial dreams of his family had only continued, maybe that would have been a balm on his soul. Instead, now he only ever dreamed of empty fields and fearful panicked running from place to place, trying to find the training field where he had met his family. But all he found was empty space and abandoned buildings.

And just him, alone.

That surely was the true meaning behind the dreams: a reflection of his daily living nightmare of being the last of his people.

A faint shift of fabric was the only warning that Nalla had entered, as quiet as any Elite could be.

He opened his eyes and looked round to see her settling into the chair on his right-hand side. She'd made it down the corridor and through the door without him hearing her. She'd always been able to do that, move so quietly that not even a Wraith could hear her.

Her pretty purple face lifted as she settled one leg over the other and lifted one eyebrow at him. It was all she needed to do to communicate that she had, of course, sensed his emotions and was asking about them.

He purposefully focused on feelings of resistant rebellion as a loud answer to her.

Both purple-eyebrows lifted at the emotional challenge, and he smiled victoriously.

"If you want to be that way," Nalla stated with a smile of her own, not insulted. "What would you like to discuss instead?"

He subtly moved the paper pad off his lap and onto the mattress to his left, where she couldn't see it. Except, he saw her violet eyes briefing drop to his hands, clearly aware that the pad was a sensitive issue for him. There was little that Nalla missed.

"Why aren't you watching the Skerti briefing broadcast with the others?" He asked.

Her gaze met his directly. "Why don't you say what you really want to say, Oneakka," she suggested.

"Fine," he set aside 'niceties', "I don't need a babysitter."

"Do you not want my company?" She asked with a frown.

"I didn't say that," He argued, surprised at her comment.

"You are frustrated with your injury and recovery," Nalla replied. "We only wish to provide you with support and companionship through these difficult times."

"I don't need to be treated like a child."

"Who has treated you like a child?" Nalla asked with another faint frown.

He opened his mouth to accuse Halling, Massa, and even Seeal, but...had they really? Nalla's arched eyebrow challenged the assumption.

It wasn't like he hadn't sat by Halling and Massa's bedsides before, done the support thing so they weren't alone.

Alone.

The word echoed in his head and chest, tearing once again into the old feelings.

He snapped his attention away from Nalla, his eyes down on the pad of empty squares and pointless obsession with nightmares and loss.

Memories of the hallucination rose up seemingly out of nowhere, of Mother's hand across his hair and Father's warm loving smile, his bright blue eyes shining in the sunlight of home...

Oneakka shut his eyes tightly, cursing the raw rush of grief, especially around Nalla.

Old pains allowed a voice in her presence.

He crushed them down though, forcing his thoughts onto something else. The falling, the pain upon waking up at the bottom of that hole in the Hive, impaled through. A tearing agonising hole through his body.

And forever in his heart.

He pushed out a breath, hating his weakness, and snapped his eyelids open again to stare across the room at reality around him. Not fake memories or unhealable pain.

The rush receded a bit, letting him draw in a breath and finally he risked a glance round at Nalla. She looked away, shifting her attention to the wall behind his bed. He frowned at her pursed lips and her rapid blinking.

He looked away quickly.

He didn't mean for her to have to share in the pain. "It's the medication," he lied.

Vulnerability and the urge to cry tightened his throat at remembering the soft brush of Mother's fingers across his brow.

He closed his eyes again and pulled on old calming techniques, breathing in and out steadily, grabbing control of his wayward emotions.

In and out, just breathing. Focus on intent, strength, control, and the present moment.

Have a focus, a plan. A strategy. If he could get better, get strong again, he could move on with his life and put this behind him. He just needed to get out of this bed, heal up, strengthen his body, and get back to his normal life.

Control slid back into place.

He finally looked back around to Nalla. Her eyes still looked watery, and he could tell she was keeping tight control of her reactions, but she smiled at him.

Kind, compassionate, and empathic Nalla.

He looked away from her, her soft kindness threatening his control.

"I visited the goat young," she said abruptly into the tense silence.

"You did?" He grabbed desperately towards the subject. "They're okay?"

"They are amazingly cheerful little beings," Nalla summarised.

He looked up from unnecessarily rearranging his blankets. "Cheerful?"

Nalla smiled a full and honest grin now. "Very. Full of energy, curiosity, and trust."

"And Bella's okay?" He checked. He hadn't thought of asking Nalla about what she might feel from the goats.

"She is tired, but seems very focused and delighted in caring for her young," Nalla supplied.

"And the little runt," Oneakka asked. "Splodge, as Seeal has called her."

Nalla let out an amused breath. "Because of the ginger patch of colouring on her head?"

Oneakka nodded.

"Yes, Splodge is fine. If anything," she considered, "I would say Splodge is more determined than the other young."

"Well, that makes sense," Oneakka muttered. Of course Seeal would be drawn to the littlest creature with a determined attitude. Or, had the goat perhaps gotten that from Raven somehow? Either way, he trusted Nalla to tell if there was something wrong with the runt, but it sounded like Raven's favourite was okay. The animal specialist's reports had said as much, but he trusted Nalla's insight just as much.

Just like he trusted she would never tell anyone of the emotional incident just now. Having a close friend who was an empath could feel intrusive at times, but her ability was a true gift and there was no one he knew who could keep confidentiality like Nalla. Not for the first time did he wonder how life must be for her, feeling what everyone else felt. He knew that it had caused her pain in the past, but she, too, saw it as a gift.

Nalla smiled at him, no doubt sensing his honest appreciation of her. And the sexual draw of her, that had faded. She would always be a beautiful woman, but...

Meiyo abruptly appeared in the open doorway. "Honoured Elite," the Healer smiled at him as she entered. "I understand you wanted to see me."

Nalla started to get up from her chair to leave, but Oneakka held out a hand towards her. "It's fine. Stay, Nalla."

Nalla settled back in her chair, and Oneakka focused entirely on Meiyo as the older woman reached the side of his bed and leaned her hip against the frame.

"Did you see my physical therapy results today?" He asked.

Meiyo nodded, the faintest pinch around her eyes suggested she knew what he had planned. "I did. You successfully stood and supported your own weight unaided and, with assistance, were able to walk around the bed."

Good, she was up-to-date. "I want to discharge myself to my quarters," he told her. "I can stand by myself and the bathroom in my quarters is closer than the one here. I'll get more sleep and be more comfortable." He had run through his argument earlier, but they'd had this discussion plenty of times in the past so it was hardly new.

Meiyo let out a faint sigh. "Your bed in your quarters won't be as supportive for you," she argued.

"One of those large wedge foam pillows works fine on my bed," he countered. "All my medication is in liquid or tablet form, I'm not on a line anymore."

Meiyo pulled a bemused half smile. "If I say no, you'll just keep arguing the point. Or just walk out as you have done before."

"I was younger then," he pointed out. "I respect your opinion and experience now."

Meiyo sighed.

"He does," Nalla decided to offer as supportive evidence.

"You would need someone to help you walk from your bed to your bathroom _every time_," Meiyo negotiated.

"Halling or Massa can help me," Oneakka knew they would agree and had done before, as he'd done for them.

"Your physical therapist would still visit you twice a day," Meiyo stated. He nodded. "And I would visit you twice a day as well, _and_ conduct spot checks to make sure that you are resting properly."

"I can't do anything more than sit," he replied.

"He doesn't believe that," Nalla decided to betray him now. He gave her a glare, but she just smiled back.

"That is the problem, Honoured Elite," Meiyo insisted. "Unmonitored, you know you will push yourself too fast and damage yourself."

"That might be true in a week or so, but right now the best I can do is stand up by myself," he pointed out. "You know I recover quicker in my own space, besides I've got my babysitters with me all the damn time."

"Someone will have to be sat with you through the nights as well if you are in your quarters," Meiyo insisted.

"Halling and Massa will help," they'd done that before too.

"You would have to stick to your medication plan in its _entirety_," Meiyo continued to negotiate.

"I agree I need the medications," he answered carefully.

The Healer narrowed her eyes, but reached for her computer pad hung from her belt. "I will need time to arrange your medications to take with you for today and tomorrow, and I want to ensure your quarters are ready for you first." She tapped instructions into her pad and then considered what was on her screen. "We should be able to move you in a couple of hours."

"Good, thank you," he'd won.

Meiyo tapped on her pad, scheduling in the medical bed transport he was going to need to get to his quarters. "You never change," she sighed as she lowered her pad.

"Thank you, Meiyo," he smiled widely up at her, making sure to show his appreciation and respect.

Meiyo shook her head with that bemused smile again and left.

Excellent, he was going to get out of here finally. Back to his own quarters.

Nalla shifted forward in her seat and he looked round at her. "You purposefully waited for Halling and Seeal to be away to do that," she accused him, somewhat accurately.

"I would still have asked if they were here," he disagreed.

"That was your version of 'asking' was it?"

"I made a logical argument. I met all the same medical criteria as the last time I was discharged to my quarters."

Nalla shook her head as she sat back in her seat.

He glanced round at the side tables, mentally assessing what needed to be packed to take with him.

"She's wrong though," Nalla added, drawing his attention back to her. "You have changed." The joy of impending freedom faded at the insight shining in her violet eyes. "I'm not saying it is good or bad, but something has changed."

He looked away from her. She couldn't know about the hallucination. Halling wouldn't have told anyone.

She was just picking up emotions.

Once he got back to full health and back on with his life, those errant feelings would fade.

They always did.

Because one hallucination didn't change anything.

He was the last of his people and his family were long dead.

And the dead couldn't talk or send you signs.

00000  
TBC


	20. Recess

**Note:** I am so pleased to report that I managed to pass my exam :) It was a truly difficult one and took every waking moment of my days around work to get the whole textbook memorised, but its finally done (until the next one). Therefore, I am now free to start posting again, which makes me happy because I've really missed sharing this story with you guys. Thank you to all those who sent me good luck messages for the exam, and I hope everyone is healthy, safe, and happy.

0000000

**DAY 19 – Briefing **

**Chapter 20 - Recess**

John shifted in his seat, looking up across the rows of seats above him. A break after the scientist Silvar's briefing had resulted in half the room heading out of their seats and disappearing into a side room where apparently there were snacks and drinks, but John and his team had kept to their seats, Rodney pouring over Silvar's report on his Alliance given pad like it had naked ladies on it rather copious amounts of scans, charts, and graphs. The rest of the room that had also chosen to stay in their seats appeared to be doing the same, all talking quietly huddled over the reports. A light chatter filled the tall room, the lights on full above, highlighting everyone's faces and uniforms.

Not for the first time since the recess had started, and Teyla had disappeared off with the other Elite, did John find his gaze straying up to the top corner of the auditorium's seating where the Genii delegation was camped out. None of them had left their seats either. General Maloo's dull terminator eyes were locked down on his pad, but one of the other Genii' gaze met John's. John held the man's stare, but the guy shifted his attention away. The Elite had apparently ordered the Genii to keep away from anyone from Atlantis, which John imagined was no small threat from the Elite, but he still would never trust a Genii. Especially if any of them happened to turn up outside Alliance territory, where the Elite couldn't police the Genii so easily; where 'accidents' could happen. John watched the three Genii huddled over Maloo's pad, seemingly in deep discussion over what they were reading, but John could easily imagine it was actually some new evil plot they were cooking up. Though he was pretty sure they wouldn't try anything today, not with the Elite here.

Still, he was not overly happy turning his back on them again as he turned around in his seat and instead looked out across the lower levels of seating. There were quite a few faces he recognised, not that he could remember many names, but he was getting better at identifying different Alliance clothing and hairstyles. Teyla had been coaching him on the different Alliance members and their cultural differences, but it was a lot to remember off the top of his head. Still, it was actually quite nice to be spending a day in the Alliance and not have everyone constantly watching him and Teyla, with loads of staring and pointing like at the Athosian Conference or when he and Teyla visited somewhere together. Today was a military and science briefing, not politics, and it was something of a relief really. Plus, now having listened to two briefings so far on the Skerti, he was especially grateful that he and his team had been invited today.

The Elite had already provided Atlantis with basic security details about the new Skerti threat, including the specific radiation that, if detected, was essentially an early warning system of the new dangerous jump drive. Still, none of that had the same impact as watching the re-enactment of Halling's fight against the Skerti. It had been like watching a scifi movie with its dark lit, fast paced fight, and the tense shocking moment as Halling had been locked in a losing battle against the clearly stronger Skerti, with only Seeal's abrupt arrival enough to break the stalemate to allow Halling the chance to behead the thing. Though, John had to wonder how the Skerti would do up against P90 fire, because it looked like the creature had shaken off the Elite stunner fire pretty easily. He just hoped he wasn't going to have to find out personally, because the thing had towered over Halling, who was far from a short guy!

"...look here, see?" Rodney's voice registered along with his elbow jabbed into John's side.

"What?" John frowned round at Rodney and made a show of rubbing his side. The guy had been jabbering on constantly since recess had started, but John had tuned most of it out. Carson, sat on Rodney's other side, looked like he was trying to make more of an effort, but it was all mostly technical babble that John just didn't understand, which didn't appear to be stopping Rodney from talking about it though. John had pretty much given up towards the end of Silvar's talk, the details gotten way too technical for him, but it had instead given him the opportunity for some light flirting with Teyla as they wrote each other notes, like being back in school. But she'd now disappeared off somewhere to meet up with the other Elite during the break and he was stuck here with the muttering Rodney.

"This, see?" Rodney insisted again.

John focused on the pad's screen where Rodney was pointing. It looked like a magnified image of an airport x-ray, all black with silver outlines across it that made no sense to John. "What am I looking at, McKay?"

"A scan of part of the drive. This is _exactly_ how the power relays run in Atlantis," Rodney answered.

"So it's the Skerti drive's power source?" John tried.

"No, the _conduits_," Rodney corrected with raised eyebrows as if John should be inferring something important from that point.

"And that's important because...?" John prompted him slowly.

"This is designed to run off a ZPM," Rodney answered impatiently.

"What, really?" John focused back down on the pad's screen with far more interest.

"This whole design screams Ancients," Rodney said almost bitterly.

"The organic components are nothing like Ancient construction, Rodney," Carson put in though.

"So they built it with the Skerti; their fingerprints are all over this thing," Rodney jabbed at his screen. "I'd bet a year's pay this thing was designed to run off a ZPM."

"But that doesn't _necessarily_ mean its Ancient tech though," Carson said thoughtfully. The Doc was looking far more relaxed than he had been first thing this morning, but then maybe the lecture style setting was familiar enough to him. John shifted round in his seat so that he was facing Carson, Rodney between them.

"Yeah, because there are ZPMs just lying around for anyone to find and just MacGyver into their own tech." Rodney scoffed at Carson's point.

"We did," Carson countered. "We used it on the Gate back home to get here to Pegasus in the first place."

"That's different," Rodney argued, "Gates are already Ancient tech."

"The Daedalus isn't. We plugged a ZPM into our hyperdrive," John joined Carson's side of the argument. "Maybe the Skerti just scavenged Ancient tech to make this drive."

Rodney sighed impatiently. "If they did, then they knew more about building Ancient technology than anyone since the Ancients themselves."

"Whoever made the thing," John decided to move the discussion on to something more constructive, "clearly the Skerti don't need an actual ZPM to power the drive; they hotwired the thing into a Wraith Hive. What we need is a way to disable it, stop them from spontaneously appearing above Atlantis or anywhere else in the galaxy."

On the other side of Carson, Seeal leaned into view. "What's a ZPM?" She asked, clearly having been listening in.

"It's an Ancestral power source," John explained. "Looks like a big crystal."

She nodded. "And what's a halfpipe?" She asked.

John frowned at the sudden strange question. "A halfpipe?"

"From one of the songs you gave me: 'Heaven is a halfpipe'."

John grinned. "That's a good tune. A halfpipe is a kind of curved ramp used in sports-" he started explaining, angling one hand up to show her how it worked.

"Heaven is a halfpipe?" Rodney interrupted though. "_That_ was part of your big 'musical cultural exchange'? Heaven is a halfpipe?!"

"It's a great song," John objected.

"Skater boy," Carson chuckled.

"I wanted to provide a _wide_ variety of Earth music for Seeal to enjoy," John explained.

Rodney narrowed his eyes at him. "Did you include the Mozart I suggested?"

John held his friend's eyes for a pause. "There wasn't any space left," he lied.

Rodney scoffed loudly as he shook his head, but was already returning his attention to his pad.

"Anyway, Seeal enjoyed it," John pointed out smiling back at Seeal. "Who clearly has good taste in music."

"I enjoyed all of it," she smiled back. "But I have _a lot_ questions," she added.

"Go for it," John told her. Now this was the kind of briefing he could get into, not technical specs on sciencey stuff.

"Why is there so much royalty making music?" Seeal asked.

John paused, replayed the question in his head, but still didn't get it. "What?"

"There's music by a Prince, Queen, a Lady, and a piece about a 'Rain King'," Seeal explained.

John tried not to laugh.

"Gaga gets in, but not Mozart," Rodney muttered from his pad.

John ignored him. "No, they're not _actual_ royalty," he explained to Seeal. "They're just names."

"Except the band Queen_, _who are_ definitely_ royalty," Carson corrected.

"Okay," Seeal nodded. "So what's a 'car'? From context, I'm guessing it's a place of seduction."

Carson spluttered out a laugh causing Seeal to quickly lean away in surprise, but she was smiling at the Doc.

"A car is a land vehicle powered by a fuel-injection engine," John explained.

"But you're not wrong," Carson told her though.

"Depends on the car," John pointed out.

"Right, so I'm guessing that these car vehicles go very fast?" Seeal asked.

"Again, depends on the car," John answered.

"But the faster the better, right?" Seeal asked pointedly.

"Sure," John grinned.

Seeal rolled her eyes dramatically. "So males are the same in both our galaxies then," she muttered and Carson chuckled again beside her.

"Not everyone loves driving fast on Earth," Carson told her. "There are speed limits, but there are still thousands of fatal car accidents each year in just his country alone."

"I noticed your accent is different to theirs, are you from a different planet in your galaxy?" Seeal asked Carson.

"No, I'm from Earth, but from a place called Scotland," Carson explained, "which is part of a United Kingdom." Then he gazed away for a second. "Though a planet Scotland sounds wonderful..."

"I'm not from the same place as Sheppard either," Rodney put in. "I'm from Canada."

"Which is another kingdom?" Seeal asked.

"Country," Carson corrected for her.

"What's the difference between a country and a kingdom?"

John quickly tuned out of the geo-political lesson as he'd spotted Teyla and Halling walking across the floor of the auditorium. The two Elite nodded to each other and Teyla broke away, starting back towards the steps that would bring her back up here. Halling was heading back towards the narrow stage, so it looked like recess wasn't going to last much longer.

John kept his eyes on Teyla as she made her way up the stairs, nodding and chatting briefly to various people as she passed them, seeming to know pretty much everyone here. Or maybe they all just wanted to say hi to an Elite warrior; he'd seen that pretty much whenever she went within the Alliance. Teyla never seemed to mind though, said it was part of her job as an Elite to be walking proof that the Wraith could be defeated. Essentially she was a celebrity of sorts, a kind of warrior rock star. He wondered if that made him a groupie?

She finally reached the level of their seats and started to head along the narrow space towards him and her empty seat to his right. Those whose legs were in the way, immediately got up to let Teyla pass by, and John stood up too, not that she needed to get by him, but it felt like the gentlemanly thing to do.

Her dark eyes met his as she got closer, her lips lifting into a beautiful smile. He smiled happily back at her as she moved past a lady with ridiculously long hair and finally reached her seat.

Acutely aware that they were in public and that loads of eyes were on them, John kept his hands at his sides and just held her gaze as they both sat back down.

"Where you been hiding?" He asked, making sure he kept a polite public distance between them, but he made sure to press his knee back in its spot against hers.

"Just a routine check-in with the Facility," she explained.

"Anything new?" He asked. The bright overhead lighting cast shiny sparkles in her lovely dark eyes. The urge to lean in and kiss her was almost overwhelming.

"No, nothing new of interest," she replied. He was almost certain there was a flirtatious edge to her voice and the tilt of her cheek as she had said the word 'interest'.

If only they had just five minutes alone together today...

Okay, he was now just gazing into her eyes.

In public.

He pulled his eyes away and looked quickly up towards the row of seats above them, but the big Satedan was still off getting a drink. Good.

"Did Doctor McKay find Silvar's briefing interesting?" Teyla asked, glancing past John towards the still muttering Rodney.

"Yeah, he hasn't lifted his nose from the report since Silvar finished," John replied.

"That is good," Teyla smiled, all warm glowing skin and dark eyes. He wondered if he could get away with just briefly touching her arm or leg, just feel...

Teyla cleared her throat and glanced away, breaking the moment.

Right, yep, they were at work.

"So, no sign of these Skerti then?" He asked weakly, wincing at the rather pathetic comment.

"No, nothing," Teyla shook her head seriously though. "We have found no mention of them in any historical recordings, at least nothing that sets the stories apart from any about the Wraith. And we have found no indication of any suspicious activity out beyond the border, even on the deep space scans Atlantis kindly provided us."

"Yeah, we've got nothing too," John frowned, annoyed that he couldn't be more helpful.

"There are no reports of anyone encountering any new spacecraft or aliens," Teyla added unhappily.

"So, either the Skerti are _really_ good at hiding or anyone who has run across them hasn't lived to tell about it," John concluded.

Teyla nodded. "That is our conclusion as well, so we have begun focusing our attention on any reports of missing people out beyond the borders. Normally such incidents are explained by encounters with the Wraith..."

"But now we know there's something else out there..." John nodded. "If there's anything else that Atlantis can do to help, let me know."

Another lovely big grin swept across her golden face and he got the feeling he'd said just the right thing. "We will," she agreed as, down at the front of the auditorium, the warning chimes rang out. Flirting time was over then. Still, there was going to be a lunch break soon and then group chats later.

"You're going to be part of the military reps group share later, right?" John checked. People were now flocking back into the auditorium, the noise level rising as everyone headed up the stairs and back to their seats.

"Yes, most definitely," Teyla nodded. "And I know both Silvar and Imseti are particularly glad to have Doctors McKay and Carson present for their group conversations as well."

"Good," John nodded. Because, of course, that was why they were all here today – information exchange. Not flirting opportunities.

From the stage the chimes rang out again and John forced himself to look away from Teyla. Except, where had he put his electronic pad? He glanced down and around his legs, only for Teyla's hand to appear holding his pad. Oh yeah, he'd put it on her chair; he hadn't even noticed she'd picked it up for him.

"Thanks," he took it from her, his fingers brushing over hers.

"You are welcome," she replied as the lights lowered in the room, everyone back in their seats. As she let go of his pad, her hand gently ghosted down and across his thigh before returning to her lap.

More than a little pleased that she'd been the one to take the quick risk of a brief teasing touch, he gave her a knowing look in the lowering light before he made himself focus back on the stage below.

Heading across the stage was the scientist, and Carson enthusiast, Imseti, while above her the massive image of the Rogue Hive still turned slowly.

"Greetings again, everyone," Imseti smiled up at her audience. She had the look and attitude of a Professor and seemed very relaxed talking to such a big group. "Thank you all for being here. May I start my briefing by mentioning that I will be presenting detailed images of the dissented Skerti alien, so those of you with a more delicate stomach may wish to glance away to the written notes at such points. That warning complete, may I now introduce you to," Imseti turned with a flourish towards the wall of screens behind her, "the Skerti." The turning Hive ship was abruptly replaced with a giant image of the dead alien, fortunately not yet dissented.

A rush of whispers filled the room.

The Skerti had looked big during the movie version of it fighting Halling, but somehow its dead body seemed even bigger. Maybe that was because the body was clearly bigger than the metal dissention table it was laid across in the photo, its lower legs and its long arms propped up on side tables in the picture.

"As you have all seen from the re-enactment of Honoured Elite Halling's battle with the alien, the alien shares some visual similarities with the Wraith, but there are significant differences. This Skerti stands at an impressive height of two point two metres, has pale skin, extensive surface veins, and elongated limbs. We have confirmed via genetic tests that it is female, although we cannot know for certain how many sexes there may be for their species. In the Iratus insect we know that females are larger than the males, and among the Wraith, the Queens of most genetic branches are as tall, if not taller than the males. However, we cannot know for certain if this particular female's height is standard for her species and/or gender."

A slideshow of various photos of the body started to run on the wall above Imseti as she talked.

"The Skerti has only four digits on each hand and foot, with each finger on its hands equipped with a long extendable claw." A photo showed a close up of one long, dark blue deadly looking claw that definitely looked like it was out of a horror movie. "The Skerti' eyes are similar in appearance to a Wraith, with a white eyeball, large yellow iris, and a slit pupil. Its teeth," a new photo appeared of the Skerti' dead lips being held back by gloved fingers, "are more Human-like than we see in the Wraith, but, unlike Humans, the Skerti' teeth are a silvery colour and the upper canine teeth are far longer. We also discovered that, not unlike some reptiles, the Skerti can extend its fangs forward. As you can see in this image, the Skerti' jaw is disproportionately larger than we see in Humans or Wraith."

In the picture, the gloved hands were now lifting and shifting the Skerti' head forward, the long fangs now jutting forward and the big bulky jaw hanging below. It looked like something out of a vampire movie!

"The explanation for this adaption is most likely due to the Skerti' chosen diet, namely blood. Within the Skerti' stomach and upper bowel organs we found a large mixed sample of Wraith blood that we have been able to identify as coming from at least three Wraith and presumably represents the Skerti' last meal before she was killed."

John tried not to grimace at the picture of the glass jar filled with thick bluish-red blood on the screen.

"From the remains of the Wraith bodies discovered in the Queen's Chamber and in the Queen's escape craft, the Skerti appears to feed by piercing its victim's neck with its canine teeth and drinking blood directly from the main carotid artery and veins of the throat."

Okay, that was even more vampire-like.

"The Skerti appear to be able to digest and absorb the blood it consumes as we would process our own food, the Skerti possessing a thin but working bowel; however," Imseti paused dramatically as she triggered the next slide in her horror show briefing. "As you can see from this magnified image of Wraith blood cells taken from the Skerti' last meal," Imseti continued as a massive picture appeared on the screens of a shrivelled up browny blue thing. Two seats down from John, Carson leaned forward in his chair. "The Wraith blood appears to have been 'drained' of its life-force and fluids, just as we see outwardly in victims that have been fed upon by the Wraith." There was a rise of whispers around the auditorium.

John glanced to Carson again, who had the same slide of the blood cell glowing on his pad's screen.

"Therefore, our current conclusion is that the Skerti' consumption of blood is a different method of absorbing life-force as we see in both the Wraith and genetic ancestor the Iratus insect. This may also suggest that the Skerti might be able to live for thousands of years, as the Wraith have done, and could, perhaps, even hibernate, which might be a clue as to where the Skerti have been for the last ten thousand years since the days of the Ancestors."

There was more whispering.

"Regardless of age, our genetic tests of the Skerti have confirmed our suspicions that the Skerti is a genetic cousin of the Wraith. We believe," Imseti changed the slide now to a simple diagram, "that the Wraith and Skerti are different species that branched off from an original hybrid creature that was formed by a combination of both Human and Iratus insect genetic material."

Carson nodded as he scrolled through his pad's information, which looked like DNA stuff. If Carson agreed with Imseti' conclusion, then John was onboard. Wraith cousins, got it.

"However, there are other significant anatomical adaptations that make the Skerti very different to the Wraith," Imseti continued.

The slides went back to close up images of the dead body.

"As seen in the re-enactment, the Skerti was able to withstand energy weapon blasts, though we did find some bruising and skin charring in those locations on its body. But, clearly it is not as affected by the kill setting as a Wraith would be. As the Skerti are a different species to the Wraith it is not wholly unusual to see some differences in such reactions. We know that among Humans, some people are affected more severely than others by stunner tech as it depends on a natural variation of the electrical frequency we all create. Therefore, it is likely that the Skerti have a different sensitivity to the energy weapon blasts, but we should hopefully be able to tune our current weapons into a frequency that will stop them as easily as they do the Wraith and Humans. We are currently undertaking tests on the Skerti cells, but obviously such testing is limited when dealing with dead tissue in place of a living test sample.

"Moving on to the Skerti' body itself, though very large, it is actually considerably more slender in build than either Wraith or Human. The Skerti skeleton is surprisingly light in weight, with far less calcification compared to our own. The skeletal components are closer to the Iratus insect exoskeleton compared to the more Human calcium-based skeleton as the Wraith adopted. This means that the Skerti bones are surprisingly fragile, particularly around the chest, where the ribs are quite thin. In battle, we would recommend attacking the chest, as the vital organs of the lungs and heart are in the same place as Humans, and so a puncture through the thin bone protection of the chest should allow a quick efficient kill strike. Though," Imseti smiled, "decapitation, as in Honoured Elite Halling's demonstration, is also highly effective."

Light laughter ran through the Auditorium, but John frowned at the images on the screen.

A blood-drinking, fanged, immortal creature that you can kill best by stabbing in the heart or cutting its head off? This was starting to get a little too close to Bram Stoker. He glanced at Rodney and Carson, but the two of them were too engrossed – Carson on the briefing and Rodney was still focusing on the technical stuff about the drive.

"However, the Skerti are far from weak, as you saw in the re-enactment," Imseti continued on. "The spread of musculature heavily favours the limbs, in fact there are five times more musculature in the limbs than the abdomen and chest. The limbs are disproportionately long compared to the rest of the body, and, again as seen in the re-enactment, the Skerti was able to climb the wall and across the ceiling of the Wraith escape craft. This is partly due to the extra muscular grip of the hands and the claws, but also from a fine fur-like gripping layer across the creature's hands and bare feet. These hairs, coated with a fine oil, allow the creature's grip to adhere to almost anything, which is inherited from the Iratus insect. Along with the Skerti' lighter body, it is likely that the creatures can hold themselves upside down indefinitely, which the Iratus insect prefers to do."

John didn't need to be reminded of how the Iratus bugs could hang from the ceiling.

"Another similarity between the Skerti and the Iratus insect is that the Skerti' eyes appear to be far more sensitive to light than a Wraith or Human. The Skerti' pupil cannot close to the same degree as a Wraith or a Human, and the sight-assigned aspects of the Skerti' brain are far more enlarged and sensitive. This means that, as we saw in the re-enactment, the Skerti will prefer dark environments and are able to see clearly in the dark. It is possible that they evolved to hunt mainly at night."

Another vampire link.

This was getting weird.

"Though, one area that is noticeably different to the Iratus and Wraith is how the Skerti communicates," Imseti triggered up a very gross image of the alien's dissected throat and upper chest. "The Skerti has no vocal cords and appears incapable of speech. Honoured Elite Halling and staff member Seeal reported that the Skerti could make sounds, but they were simple hissing breaths of sound, not recognisable speech. It appears then that the telepathic communication it used is its main source of communication, and its brain shows this clearly."

A series of photos played of the top of the Skerti' skull being removed, then the fleshy brain being extracted and then sat de-skulled on a table. John grimaced at the images, but could tell, without any medical knowledge, that the brain looked weird.

"The areas of the brain that we know are more highly developed in both Wraith and Human Seekers, are abnormally massive in the Skerti' brain and there is actually an entire new lobe of the brain grown on the top. We are still carefully dissecting the Skerti brain, but our findings so far show that this 'telepathic lobe', for want of a better name at this point, has neuron linkage to every other part of the brain other than the brain stem.

"Honoured Elite Halling has reported that the Skerti' telepathic ability extended to her being able to, in some way, read his mind and that the experience was almost overwhelmingly painful. We know that telepathic communication is possible, not only among the Wraith and Seekers, but by some on Pelydr and in stories about the Ancestors. However, the Skerti telepathy appears to be unique and possibly a significant challenge to face."

Weren't vampires telepathic in some stories? Dracula was supposed to be able to hypnotise his victims, wasn't he?

John leaned his shoulder against Rodney's and whispered to him and Carson, "Is this sounding all a little Dracula-like to you guys?"

Rodney glanced up from his pad. "What?"

Carson glanced round. "A little," he agreed quietly.

"You think that was Dracula?" Rodney asked.

"No, not Dracula, obviously," John rolled his eyes. "But we've seen before that myths back home turn out to be about actual aliens. What if Bram Stoker heard stories that came down from the Ancients that came to Earth from Atlantis?"

"It's an idea that's already been discussed about the Wraith," Carson whispered back. "I believe Dr Daniel Jackson wrote several papers on the theory."

"Yeah, but the Wraith don't drink blood and they come out during the day," John argued. "These guys fit the vampire myths far better."

"Especially the vulnerable chest," Carson nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah," John nodded. "Maybe the Ancients spread the stories just in case any Skerti ever made it to Earth and-"

Teyla's hand was a sudden warm weight on his right knee, drawing John's attention to her.

"What is going on?" she whispered as he looked round.

John noticed that people sitting on Teyla's far side and those on the row of seats above them were all looking his way. Oops it appeared he and his team had been spotted whispering and had caused a bit of a scene during the talk. Still, this was possibly really important.

He focused on Teyla and kept his voice low. "We've got some stories of something like the Skerti back home," he told her.

Her eyes grew wide and round. "You do?"

"They're just stories, which we kind of thought might be about the Wraith, but there's _a lot_ that tracks with the Skerti," he whispered back quietly. "Maybe the stories came from the Ancestors that lived on Earth?"

He could practically see the hope blossoming in her eyes.

"You guys haven't been able to find any intel on the Skerti," John whispered, "maybe it's because you've been looking in the wrong galaxy."

00000  
TBC


	21. Sensitive Subjects

**DAY 19 – Briefing **

**Chapter 21 – Sensitive Subjects**

Seeal had been looking forward to the whole big Skerti briefing, being a part of something new and interesting again outside of the Facility, and the event had not disappointed.

She'd been surprised when Halling had first told her she was invited, as she'd only been a small part of his research team into the Skerti, mostly digging through ten years of scan data from Dreamstation's database and she hadn't found anything useful so far; of course, neither had the rest of the research team. Before the appearance of the Seed Ship, the bloody Slug Robots, and now the Queen Skerti on the Rogue Hive, there wasn't a single, even vague clue anywhere about the Skerti.

Still, the Elite's resident science geniuses had found out a hell of a lot studying the new drive tech and the Skerti body, and though Seeal was mostly up-to-date on the research, there had still been some brand new nuggets of latest intel that had been presented. Though, actually the most interesting part of the day had come from Sheppard and his people. Outside of the big revelation that they had stories of something like the Skerti back on their homeworld, she'd had the chance to meet two more of Sheppard's people. That they were both non-military had been particularly interesting, providing further insight into Earth culture and society. The Healer, Dr Beckett, had appeared a standard kind of Healer type: kind, caring, and a good communicator. However, his severe burns and arm injury had apparently been caused by his being up close to an explosive device, which didn't sound like standard Healer work. She'd not pushed for more information though, since it wasn't her business and his injuries were clearly a very sensitive subject for the kind man.

Dr McKay had been a far more familiar type of person: intensely intelligent but lacking some social skills. Still, the bond between the three men had been obvious and no different from what she'd seen elsewhere, which added more evidence that Sheppard's people really were the same as people from this galaxy. Fellow Children of the Ancestors, as she'd heard them described by pro-Atlantis groups on the newsfeeds.

However, it had been the big revelation that had made the real mark. About halfway through the briefing on the Skerti body, Sheppard and his people had begun whispering feverishly between them, causing an amusing scene in the middle of the auditorium. Once the official briefings were over, Seeal had stuck close to Sheppard for the rest of the day and had listened firsthand to the man's stories of mythological creatures on Earth that sounded dramatically similar to the Skerti.

The stories had certainly galvanised Halling and he'd not stopped talking about it on the way back from the briefing. Seeal and Massa had already heard it all, but they'd let Halling chatter on, the man clearly excited to have a found an actual possible lead at last. Of course they were just stories from Earth, which Sheppard had emphasised, but apparently the Ancestors that had fled to his world had left behind important stories before as clues, including the existence of Atlantis that had led Sheppard and his people to find this galaxy. Seeal had seen myths come true all too clearly in her own life, and could still vividly remember that fateful night on the Glisi planet when the Wraith had arrived and all the fear-filled stories and warnings she'd heard through her first seven yearly cycles about monsters that would kill her had suddenly been real and towering over her. So, she had no problem with believing there were truths behind stories, after all she currently lived surrounded by legendary Elite who she'd seen do unbelievably impressive things.

She just hoped that Sheppard's promise to supply the Elite with every detail he could on the mythological 'vampires' would actually bear fruit. Halling certainly thought so, and the second the three of them had stepped off the transport craft and back into the Facility this evening, Halling had rushed off to go brief Oneakka on what they'd found out. Massa had disappeared equally as quickly, heading off to retrieve Aki from his caregivers, which had left Seeal by herself with nothing to do for the rest of the evening.

Except read the crazy number of text link messages her small pad in her pocket had abruptly started delivering as it synched back in with the Facility's computer systems. She skimmed through the first messages as she wandered through the corridors towards the Hydroponics Bay to visit the goats, but all the text links seemed the same; her project team sharing ideas back and forth, then a load to her about the live feed from the briefing. Apparently many of her team were shocked to have seen her appearance in the re-enactment and felt the need to tell her as much. She'd hardly kept it a secret that she'd been involved in the battle and been on the Rogue Hive, but clearly no one had realised how close to the Skerti she'd gotten. She'd even had a message from Madesh, also seeming shocked at her part, and almost worried about her. She had no idea why he needed to be, she'd told him the story and clearly the whole thing was in the past.

She put the pad away, which was still updating with messages now from the Skerti research team, all clearly as excited as Halling was about the new vampire angle. She was off rotation now and feeling pretty tired from the day, so it all felt a bit much. She'd prefer some time with the goats rather talking more about the Skerti. She'd had a whole day of that.

As she headed up the grassy incline towards the goat hut, she could see Neligan working just inside the little enclosure around Belka's home, clearly mucking out the hut. She'd actually prefer not having to make any more small talk today, but that wasn't too much of a problem as the goatlings had noticed her and little Splodge was leading the charge down the slope towards her.

Grinning at the little goat's pleasure at seeing her, Seeal sat down on the grass as Splodge launched up onto her lap. The rest of the goatlings arrived a second later, dancing round her, jumping up and off her knees and one leaping up against her back. She laughed happily as she tried to stroke as many wriggling moving goat backs as she could. They quickly lost interest in saying hello though and began chasing each other again, turning circles around her, but little Splodge stayed on Seeal's lap. Seeal stroked the little goatling's head and scratched her cute tiny little cheeks. Splodge leaned into the loving attention, but Seeal could tell she wasn't going to settle down for a cuddle this evening, Splodge still too full of energy to nap just yet. Which wasn't that far from how Seeal was feeling. She wasn't entirely certain what time of the evening it was here in the Facility, but finding out would require her to pull her pad out of her back pocket and she was busy ignoring the frequent buzzing updates of more messages going back and forth. That was tomorrow's problem to deal with. For now, she just wanted to sit quietly with the goats.

She was actually feeling pretty beat. Today had taken more out of her than made sense. She'd been a bit cautious at first at the briefing, which had been full of the Alliance's top military leaders alongside the top science brains. She'd expected that a large portion of them would know who she was and that she might face some judgemental looks and even some confrontations. Except there had been none. Not even from Oneakka's Satedan friend, Dex. He'd hardly hidden his distrust in her before now, and she'd prepared herself as she'd spotted him across the auditorium's floor. Except the muscular Satedan had simply met her gaze and given her a small nod. That was practically a hug from a Satedan! Well, maybe not a hug, but it was surprisingly close to acceptance.

Though, thinking about it now, she realised that he had been one of the visitors to Oneakka's bedside on that horrible night when they had all thought Oneakka was going to die. She'd not paid any attention to the Satedan that night, or any of the myriad of mourners that had turned up to whisper their goodbyes to Oneakka's still form, but she did remember seeing Dex. And she was pretty sure that she'd seen his name on the lists of visitors to see Oneakka since. So, maybe his acceptance was because she had helped save Oneakka. That was the kind of thing that Satedans did take seriously, so that probably explained it.

Still, she was a little surprised that no one else had given her even a warning glare. She'd been just a face among a sea of people and hardly important considering the focus of the briefing, and apparently she wasn't considered a threat anymore.

It wasn't like anonymity was new to her; she'd actively cultivated it when living on the streets and when sneaking onto planets and space-stations over the years. Still, it had been the first time she'd been anywhere in the Alliance for awhile now that didn't involve someone at least making themselves know to her as security keeping a close eye on her. When she visited any marketing stations there was always a member of security very obviously following her, and she had no doubt that her movements were always monitored by unseen security. In clubs and bars, even when with staff from the Sythus, someone was always noticeably watching her. Today though, she'd been...accepted and ignored. It had been nice but also a little unnerving too. Like here, no one watched her anymore. Even Maja, the distrusting Joint Security Lead of the Facility appeared to have lost interest in watching her, at least actively. Seeal suspected they were still monitoring her computer activity as that would be smart given her history, or maybe not. Maybe she just wasn't interesting to anyone anymore.

It was just another example of how much her life had changed and continued to change.

Like her not having hacked into anything in a long time. When she easily could. Especially if she wanted to find about Oneakka's secret female, Pampata. But she hadn't.

Though at the briefing, she'd caught herself keeping an eye out in case Pampata might be there. She was apparently a military engineer according to her Beacon's login from the day she visited Oneakka, so Seeal had kind of wondered if she might appear today. She hadn't been at the briefing though, which probably made sense, but Seeal had still caught herself repeatedly scanning the sea of faces in the auditorium.

Splodge abruptly jumped off Seeal's lap and raced off to headbutt one of her brothers. It was the latest part of the goats' development apparently; their little horn buds starting to grow. Seeal watched as the two goatlings jumped and butted heads, wondering how it couldn't hurt them, but she guessed their skulls were designed for it.

Another vibration from her back pocket announced more messages. She rolled her eyes at the annoying announcements. Maybe she should just go back to her quarters for the rest of the evening, do some reading or something. It felt strange to have an evening without her usual scheduled time to sit with Oneakka, but Halling had taken that slot today so he could discuss the briefing with Oneakka. She was oddly used to her daily Oneakka-time and felt a little adrift without it.

She considered maybe going to work out in one of the gyms, since she'd missed her usual session today, but she felt too tired for that. She'd been pretty busy for weeks now, her time dividend up between the project work, breaks with the goats or in the gym, and then the evenings sat with Oneakka. Her days were normally packed full, and empty time now made her feel oddly tired. Maybe she should go to bed early, snuggle up with some reading, then get a long night's sleep in. The idea felt good, since the gorgeously comfortable Elite mattresses were a thing of absolute beauty.

A noise from up the slope was the sound of Belka's food bucket being put out for her and Seeal watched as the goatlings all raced up towards their mother, who already had her head in the bucket. For some reason the baby goats felt the need to join in, even though they weren't on solid food yet.

Left alone on the grass, Seeal contemplated going up to help Neligan, but even that seemed a bit too much right now. An evening alone was clearly the right thing given her mood. It wouldn't be too long until she would have to get used to more evenings alone, since it had been obvious from the briefing that the Sythus was going to be repaired and back in service as soon as was possible. Madesh and Ru had suggested as much, that there was probably only a month or so left until it was back in service, and clearly the ship was going to be needed in the search, and likely fight, against the Skerti. Which would take her fellow 'Strays' off into battle, probably Halling too, and she'd be left behind. Of course, Oneakka clearly wasn't going to be well enough to rejoin his ship for that mission, but, if the speed of his recovery was anything to go by, it wouldn't be too long before he was back on rotation and trying to get himself killed again.

Then, once the computer project was complete, she was going to have to leave the Facility and make some real decisions about her future. She had her clean record in the Alliance, so it wasn't like it was going to be a dangerous decision for her to make, but it was starting to feel like it was growing closer. And when it did, her friends on the Sythus and here in the Facility weren't going to be part of her life anymore. She wouldn't be privy to all the restricted intel she was currently able to know about.

And she definitely wasn't going to be able to sit with Oneakka every evening for much longer.

She idly wondered if Atlantis might be looking for a coding and security expert, but then it sounded like, from the few stories she'd heard from Sheppard and Elite Emmagan, life in Atlantis was far from safe and predictable. If a bomb could explode in the face of one of their top Healers and Sheppard easily kidnapped by Kolya, it didn't bode well for safety. No, she'd forged herself a safe place in the Alliance with her clean record, so she wasn't about to throw that away. Even if she had no idea what she was going to do with it.

Definitely not working on Mil Hub station though, of that she was absolutely certain. Wherever she ended up, she wasn't going to share a station with Oneakka's curvaceous female. She didn't need to accidently see the two of them together. Not that it bothered her, it was good that Oneakka had a female, though Seeal was still a little annoyed that the woman had shown little interest in actually being around to help Oneakka. Seeal had been by his side every day, helping him to stand up and take painful limping steps. Because that was what a _friend_ did, someone who cared. Not just watch from a distance and wait for him to get better.

Though, maybe that was Oneakka's decision, since he was clearly all sensitive about his privacy, keeping his lover secret. Well, secret from her at least. She kept waiting for him to say something, or make some slipup that she could use to casually mention that she already knew about Pampata and make it obvious that it didn't matter to her. Of course, such subtlety was probably impossible with Oneakka right now as he was still in the thick of his Cuddly Bear of Moor grumpiness. She'd been able to see him very briefly this morning before they'd all left for the briefing and it had been clear that he'd not been happy that he was being left behind. She'd promised him that she'd pay close attention to everything and would relay everything back to him, but he'd simply replied that the briefing was recorded so he'd find out that way. She'd only been trying to lift his spirits, but such a thing was pretty difficult with Oneakka lately.

Still, his recovery was pretty impressive. Grumpy though he was and clearly still in pain, he was making amazing progress. He could stand by himself, albeit with a supportive hand on his elbow, and he was starting to put some weight back on. He'd noticeably gotten thinner from his injury, but he was starting to eat a little more and Halling was helping him with a physical therapist each day. He was clearly doing well, but it was going to take time. Considering that most people impaled through would probably have died where they'd fallen, and that he'd crawled his way up out of a pit and down a long corridor, bleeding out as he went, and had survived was something of a miracle. She'd seen one of his initial scans over Meiyo's shoulder – completely by accident – and it was pretty obvious that he'd been very lucky. The thing that had impaled him had missed his spine and major blood vessels by a bare inch or so. She'd reminded him of that a lot recently, that he was lucky to be alive, but he usually just grumbled something incoherent.

She did feel sorry for him, stuck in bed and in pain. The latest batch of his medication was clearly making him a little dopey at times and it obviously annoyed him. She'd learnt not to point out if he'd misheard something as he'd only snap back at her. Still, him snapping and being difficult was far easier to deal with than the forlorn looks from a week ago. At least now she didn't feel the compulsion to stroke his growing hair and tell him he was going to be fine. No, now the compulsion was to tell him to behave himself and not snap at people, which was at least a compulsion she could allow and did frequently.

She wondered if he was snapping at Halling this evening, annoyed still that he'd missed out on the revelation from Sheppard. Maybe she should just pop by before she turned in, check he was okay and that he wasn't giving Halling a hard time.

That sounded like a good plan, so she pushed up from the grass, gave Neligan a brief wave, and headed back down the slope.

Her pad was vibrating with message announcements again as she headed through the Facility, but she continued to ignore it. If anything was urgent it would do the double buzz, so she just focused on deciding what she could read when she had her nice early night on her squishy mattress. Maybe she could even drop by the canteen after checking on Oneakka, see if they had any sweet treats left. It had been a long day after all, she deserved a little treat.

Pleased with the decision, she entered the open doorway of the surgical part of the Healing Bay. It was pretty quiet this evening, with just one Recruit sat to one side, a Healer talking him through how to care for his obviously repaired broken arm. Honestly, Seeal had never seen so many broken limbs and noses as in this Facility. She'd thought the frequent brawls on Dream had been excessive, but it seemed that the Recruits hurt themselves almost constantly. If the stories Oneakka had told her of his youthful fights and training as Recruit was anything to go by, she guessed it made sense to see so many injuries. Still, she couldn't imagine many other military bases had such a big and active Healing Bay as this place.

She decided to ask Oneakka about that tomorrow evening when she got to sit with him alone again. Mentally noting that, she turned into Oneakka's doorway, only to pull up short. The bed was empty, stripped of any bedding and the side tables were bare of Oneakka's stacks of gifted books.

A sharp cold crush hit her chest. Had something happened to him?

But he'd been getting better!

Her pad.

She grabbed towards her back pocket, cursing herself for ignoring all the buzzing that surely had been messages to her about-

"Hello," a voice suddenly called from the corridor outside and Seeal spun round to see a Healer jogging towards her. "I meant to catch you when you arrived, apologies," the woman said slightly breathless, but she was smiling. Okay, that couldn't mean bad news. Seeal's entire stomach and heart unclenched, and she could finally draw in a breath again.

They must have just moved him to another room.

"Where is he?" Seeal asked, shaking off the cold spell and racing heart rate.

"He self-discharged back to his quarters a few hours ago," the woman explained.

Seeal blinked at the unexpected news. "He did _what_?" She asked a little louder than she intended. "He can barely stand up by himself," she argued, her former fear morphing into disbelief. She had finally pulled her pad out of her pocket and dropped her eyes to the screen. Yep, there were a load of messages from Halling and Massa about the oaf's stupid decision. Apparently Halling was in Oneakka's room with him and Massa was heading there now.

"Healer Meiyo feels he is well enough to return to his own quarters," the Healer supplied through Seeal's speed reading.

"Well, we'll see about that," Seeal stated as she moved around the Healer and started down the corridor, only to realise that she was probably being rude. "Thank you," she added over her shoulder to the Healer and returned her attention to reading the messages as she rushed out of the Healing Bay.

Stupid male, he needed proper medical care on hand near him. Judging by the messages, Halling and Massa agreed with her, but the tone of their text links suggested there wasn't much to be done about it. She typed a quick message to them that she was on her way as she stormed through the Facility.

After turning a corner she looked up from the pad and glanced around with a frown, reorienting herself. She'd only gone to Oneakka's quarters once or twice to retrieve things for him while he was stuck in the Healing Bay, and the Elite habitation area was hardly her usual territory. Realising she'd made a wrong turn somewhere, she backtracked up the white corridor and took another turn; yes, this looked more familiar.

Her pad vibrated and she looked down to see Halling had messaged her that he'd added her Beacon identification to Oneakka's quarters' door so she could enter for her visits. She was damn well doing to visit Oneakka right now and let him know her opinion.

Why he did always have to be so unpredictably difficult?

Finally she reached the correct corridor, Oneakka's quarters at the very end. She shoved her pad back into her pocket and strode up to his door, waved her wrist over the control panel's sensor and the door slid open to reveal a very busy room inside.

"...it will be fine," Elite Nalla was saying as Seeal stepped into the room.

Oneakka's bed was in its usual place, set in the middle of the white room, Elite Nalla was sat in a chair to the left of his bed, Healer Meiyo close to her, while Massa was stood to Seeal's immediate left and Halling to the right. And in the middle, enthroned on his bed, sat Oneakka, hands clasped on his lap and looking very pleased with himself.

Seeal stopped at the foot of his bed and glared down at him. "_What_ are you doing in here?" She demanded.

Oneakka's blue eyes held hers with clear triumph. "Sitting comfortably," he answered with a stubborn smugness that she'd not seen since before his injury.

It looked like the head of his bed had been built up with a wedge and there were at least four pillows supporting his head and upper back. The Healing Bay white shirts were gone and he was dressed in one of his own long-sleeved blue shirts. His colourful patterned bedding that she'd seen in here before had been replaced with new deep purple bedding and there was a dark blue blanket across the lower part of his bed, no doubt keeping his legs warm under the duvet. To the side there was one of the tables from the Healing Bay that could be slid over his bed to use, and, on his beside tables, she spied the stacks of gifted books and an empty plate of food. Clearly he'd been here awhile, had settled back into his home and did, indeed, look pretty comfortable.

"You should be in the Healing Bay," she told him.

"I'm well enough to be here," he replied instantly, "in my own room with my own things."

She could tell that he'd not had his evening dose of his latest medications yet, because the sleepy edge that sometimes meant he struggled to express himself was absent and he looked intent and focused.

She obvious hit her; he'd planned this. He'd waited until her, Halling and Massa had left for the briefing. Somehow he'd convinced the Healers to let him back here and now he was all settled in and there was nothing they could do about it. Clearly the meds weren't dulling his brain as much as she'd thought. This was very him: strategic and decisive. And he'd kept it secret, like he did his lovers.

"Honoured Elite Oneakka should be fine in here," Healer Meiyo stepped into view on the left and Seeal glared around at the older woman. "We have provided everything he needs and will be on call for him at all times."

"He just recovered from a fever two days ago," Seeal pointed out to the Healer.

"It was a very mild fever that passed," Meiyo replied in that calm unflappable manner that all the Healers seemed to have here. "We are monitoring him closely and he has promised that one of you will be sat with him around the clock," the Healer switched her gaze across to Halling stood on the right side of Oneakka's bed, and there had been just enough of a question in her voice for it to be clear that she was checking if Oneakka's 'promise' was true.

"We will be here with him," Halling promised instantly, of course immediately bowing to Oneakka's will. "My concern is his medication."

Seeal switched her attention back to Oneakka, who was glancing from Meiyo to Halling with faint interest, clearly uncaring about their debates; he'd gotten what he wanted. He sensed her attention and met her eyes. Oh yes, he was very pleased with himself and there was just a touch of challenge in his look. Some days it was obvious that he was spoiling for an argument with someone, and she had allowed him to bait her into them because, unlike the others, she wasn't going to bow to his stubborn annoyance and let him get away with whatever he wanted. Plus it was a way for him to offload his frustrations without hurting anyone else's feelings.

"We will supply the medication in batches to cover each day," Meiyo answered Halling's point.

"It's not the supplying, it's the _taking_ the medication that's the issue," Massa stated from the left.

Seeal broke her eyes away from Oneakka's smugness to consider Massa's point, only she found herself looking at little Aki' face. The babe was fast asleep on his father's shoulder, his face turned towards her, his little cheek plumped up against the white blanket draped over Massa's shoulder that was clearly unable to absorb all of the dribble trickling out of Aki's mouth. Seeal forced her eyes away from the cute baby to Massa's profile.

"I'm taking the medication," Oneakka insisted from his bed. "It's _my_ medication plan."

Seeal saw Massa frown suspiciously at Oneakka.

"Does he normally do this?" She asked Massa. "Leave the Healing Bay too early?"

Massa nodded as he looked round at her. "Every damn time."

"He hasn't been impaled by a Hive ship before," she pointed out the obvious as she gestured towards Oneakka and looked back to Meiyo. Surely the Healer couldn't really think this was a good idea. Had Oneakka threatened her? Maybe tried to break himself out of the Healing Bay so she'd just caved to what he wanted?

"It wasn't a _whole_ Hive ship," Oneakka interrupted with clear annoyance. Seeal ignored him and kept her attention on Meiyo.

"In truth," Meiyo said, "being in one's own surroundings has been shown to aid recovery, and Honoured Elite Oneakka had promised that he will keep to his medication plan and the physical therapist will still visit him twice a day every day. One of you will be with him too," Meiyo looked to Halling and Massa, "and I will be visiting each day."

Oh great, Oneakka had won her over somehow.

"He truly does believe this will help him," Elite Nalla added from her chair next to Oneakka. It seemed he'd formed a support group while they'd been away from the Facility, which was again a good strategic move on his part. Especially winning over the Pelydrian.

Seeal frowned at Elite Nalla, who again had that annoying weird calm smile on her face. The female was an empath not able to read minds, so it surely was easy enough for Oneakka to convince her with his confidence in his plan. Confidence was hardly in short supply for Oneakka.

"As long as you continue to improve as you've done," Meiyo was saying down to him, "then you can stay here."

"Thank you, Meiyo," Oneakka smiled up at the Healer, suddenly all sweet and polite. Charming even. Seeal narrowed her eyes at him; charm was a weapon she rarely saw him deploy, but he'd used in on her once before when he'd given her the Earth music. It was a seriously dangerous weapon that stupid handsome smile of his. Smug arrogant oaf.

"I will visit you tomorrow morning," Meiyo smiled back at him before turning away, about to leave.

"He should be fine," Meiyo declared to the rest of them as she headed towards the door. "Don't worry," Meiyo added as she passed Seeal and the Healer patted Seeal's elbow.

Shocked at the sudden touch, Seeal frowned down at her own elbow. Why had the older woman touched her arm and no one else's? It had been like a comforting reassuring thing. She turned towards the leaving Meiyo, but the Healer was already disappearing from view and the door shut behind her. What had that been about?

Frowning back round to Oneakka, Seeal saw Elite Nalla glance away quickly.

"I will need to draw up a new rota for us," Halling stated, and Seeal shifted her suspicious attention away from Nalla and onto the tall Athosian. "You will need one of us with you through the nights now as well," Halling said to Oneakka.

"I don't need someone with me _all_ the time," Oneakka argued, unsurprisingly. The charming side of him had vanished now Meiyo had left. Now he had gotten his way, well he wasn't going to get it all his way.

"You can barely stand up without help," Seeal reminded him forcefully. "How are you going to get to the bathroom?" She demanded. Admittedly, his bathroom door was far closer to him here than the one in the Healing Bay, which had been a short painful limping walk across the corridor, but still.

"Halling or Massa can help me," Oneakka replied.

She frowned at that, his excluding her obvious. "Why can't I help you?" She demanded. She'd helped him across the corridor at the Bay the last few days, though admittedly a Healer had gone into the bathroom with him.

"_Only_ them," Oneakka answered with a dark frown as he crossed his arms.

"It's right there," she pointed to the bathroom door barely five paces from the side of his bed. "So if I'm here and you need the bathroom I have to call one of them in here to help you move a metre past when I'll be sitting?" What stupidness was this?

"We're happy to help him," Massa interjected.

She started to argue that, but then the obvious hit her. He only wanted a male to help him. So this was his big privacy issue again, or maybe it was something more specific.

"Is this a penis thing?" She asked Oneakka directly. "Do you have some sort of deformity or battle injury you're worried about me seeing? Because you don't need to worry about that."

Massa spluttered a loud cough that was clearly designed to cover a laugh, but Seeal kept her eyes on Oneakka, who was looking pretty shocked at her question.

"I saw _every_ kind of male body while running security on the lower decks of Dreamstation," she explained; though actually there had been a few sights she wished she could forget. "I'm _really_ not going to judge you on anything like that," she made it clear.

"It's nothing like that!" Oneakka snapped back. "My penis is fine. There's nothing wrong with me there."

"Testicle problem?" She checked.

Elite Nalla was looking away again, rubbing at her cheek. She was either finding the conversation embarrassing or funny; either way, Seeal was going to make her point.

"My testicles are fine!" Oneakka insisted angrily, his cheeks clearly flushed. She'd embarrassed him. "Massa, stop it!" Oneakka redirected his angry glare on Massa.

"It's just a cough," Massa insisted with very fake coughing to cover the very obvious laughter.

"Then _go_ get something to _deal_ with it," Oneakka stated, each word separate and dripping with threat.

Massa turned away, not even trying to hide his laughter now. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning," he managed to splutter around his chuckling. He then dipped his shoulder close to Seeal and whispered "tell me what happens."

"Go!" Oneakka ordered Massa forcefully and Massa quickly exited, still chuckling.

"I'm not trying to embarrass you," Seeal explained calmly as the door shut behind her.

"I don't get embarrassed," Oneakka lied. He was angry and clearly she had stepped into some sensitive male ego territory. She'd not met that aspect of Oneakka before, but here it was. "I'm an Elite Warrior," he stated sternly. "It's a privacy thing. You wouldn't want me stood over you while you went to the bathroom."

No, she wouldn't want that. "Alright, I see your point," she conceded.

"Good," Oneakka stated, his cheeks still pink. She'd never seen him blush before and it was very obvious against his pale complexion.

Silence fell in the room.

She glanced at Halling, who looked up from the floor and gave her a close-lipped smile, as if he was working to control himself. Why was everyone finding a frank conversation so funny? It was just anatomy.

"I should be leaving," Elite Nalla announced as she rose from her chair. "I will leave you in the good care of your friends, Oneakka."

"I did enjoy your company, Nalla," Oneakka told her like he was making a significant point.

Nalla smiled at him as she reached out and squeezed his shoulder briefly. "I will be around the Facility for a few days, so will drop in and share my company again."

Oneakka smiled back up to her before Nalla headed towards the door. Only the Pelydrian shifted her violet gaze to Seeal as she moved past her. Seeal met Nalla's gaze, the Elite female's expression some strange cross between bemusement and curiosity. Seeal wasn't sure what that look meant, Pelydrians always being quite hard to read, but it was too late to assess the look further as Nalla was heading out the door, leaving Seeal with Halling and Oneakka.

So it seemed everyone was going along with the Oneakka discharging himself to his quarters? No one had made any real arguments. So, this was going to be the new normal for awhile then. Why did Oneakka always get his way?

Halling moved towards Oneakka's bed, heading for a chair set on the right side of the bed. "Do you need anything, Oneakka?" Halling asked.

"No," Oneakka stated quickly and firmly, which Seeal suspected was against any possible suggestion that he might need to use the bathroom.

Halling sat down and Seeal realised she was now stood alone at the foot of Oneakka's bed. She wasn't sure if she should sit down too, or maybe leave. She didn't want to just go and let him think that she was embarrassed about the whole bathroom penis conversation.

She headed for Nalla's vacated chair on the left side of Oneakka's bed. He'd soon tell her to go if he didn't want her here.

She sat down without any comment or complaint from him, and she glanced at his room around her. Everything looked as ordered as normal, but there was the faint air of a place that had been empty for awhile. She wondered whether anyone had dusted his long shelves of books when they had changed the bedding for him and, most likely, cleaned his bathroom. All the bathrooms here in the Facility had grab handles by the toilets and showers, clearly designed for people recovering from injuries or with disabilities, so the bathroom was at least prepped for him already. She realised that she was going to have to use the bathroom herself during her shifts here, not that he'd mind, but it felt suddenly a little weird.

She glanced round towards his bed, aware that it was set noticeably lower than the medical bed had been, so that he was now sat at the same level as her for the first time in weeks. That felt odd as well for some reason, so she focused on the lovely purple bedding she was now up close to it.

Except then she found herself wondering if Pampata had slept between these sheets.

"_Nothing's_ deformed," Oneakka suddenly insisted and she snapped her eyes up to his face.

"I was looking at the bedding, not at you," she quickly explained.

He frowned doubtfully at her.

"It's nice bedding," she clarified. "I was admiring the colour."

Oneakka didn't look convinced.

"It _is_ nice bedding," Halling agreed supportively from the other side of the bed. "It is from Pelydr."

"Is everything they make purple?" Seeal joked weakly.

"No," Halling smiled back, his eyes warm and kind.

She found herself about to look back down at the purple bedding, but stopped herself; Oneakka would only misread it again. She'd honestly been looking at the bedding, but now the sudden urge to just glance at Oneakka's groin area was overwhelming. She resisted the silly impulse intently and looked at Oneakka's eyes instead.

The blue eyes were narrowed at her still. She could practically see his thoughts playing across his face. She realised that she had no idea how to calm things. When male egos had been hurt back on Dream, it hadn't really been her problem. She'd simply stated the situation and how the particular piece of scum or member of station staff could resolve it, or she would. It had been their business how they dealt with the hurt ego. If they decided to act out angrily in some stupid pointless way, well she'd at least warned them beforehand. Clearly that technique wasn't going to work here.

She'd have to go with the more conciliatory route. "It wouldn't matter if anything was deformed," she stressed.

"Nothing is!" His male ego stated back firmly.

"Fine!" She held her hands up. "I'm sorry I even mentioned it."

"I'm _completely_ _normal_ in that area," he insisted. He really wasn't going to let this go!

"That's great!" she said exasperated now. "Congratulations on having a perfect penis. I'll make sure to stress that point to everyone I meet if that'll make you happy."

He clearly hadn't expected that, because his frown became a shocked half smile that he quickly worked to suppress as he looked away. "Good," he stated simply.

"Fine," she said as she looked away from him.

She wasn't exactly sure which part of what she had said had apparently disarmed the landmine that she'd stepped on, but she'd take it. Her own cheeks felt a bit flushed after all that. She'd make sure not to go anywhere near that sensitive subject again, though admittedly questioning a male's genitals would probably provoke any male, she just hadn't realised he'd be so defensive. She'd only been trying to be open and honest, which was normally how Oneakka was about everything.

She crossed her legs and considered the long line of his shelves, her eyes drawn to his Ugun relics lined up in front of all the books and scrolls. Someone should check for dust; it wouldn't be healthy for him to breathe that in right now.

"So, did you see any of the live feed of the briefing?" Halling asked into the silence.

"No," Oneakka replied.

She looked round, thankful for the new subject. "Sheppard's people have some stories about something like the Skerti," she blurted out to make sure it was clear that she wasn't embarrassed about the argument.

Oneakka looked round with real interest. "They do?"

"They're just stories apparently, but the Ancestors have previously passed down warnings that became stories and myths on Earth before," Halling supplied, his former excitement returning.

"What are the stories?" Oneakka asked, his cheeks still a little pink.

"Of creatures called vampires," Seeal told him.

"Vampires," Oneakka tried out the word.

"They are said to be near indestructible, to drink blood, and only come out in the dark," Halling reported. "Sheppard told us one particular story, the most famous apparently, of a male vampire that lived for centuries..."

Seeal settled back in her chair as she listened to Halling's recounting of the Earth story, grateful that they were moving on from the sensitive issue. Though, she realised, Oneakka had still gotten his way. Here she and Halling were, sat at his bedside, going along with his idea to be away from proper medical care. Well, she was going to make sure that she was still on his visitor rota, though admittedly she wouldn't cover the night shifts because he'd definitely need to visit the bathroom and probably need help washing. But, she was going to make sure to keep a closer eye on him, because clearly he was sneakier than she'd realised and needed watching. He'd played them well today, gotten what he wanted, but she wasn't going to let him do anything so stupid again.

The annoying oaf.

Still, the blue shirt did suit him.

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TBC


	22. Unspoken Questions

**Note:** I hope everyone is well. Thank you again for the congrats on passing my exam, you guys are so kind! As we hit the start of Day 21 in this fic, we're now over halfway towards the 40 chapter target I set myself to cover a 40 day stretch for the characters. Fortunately, with the exam now done, I am able to start posting regularly again :) especially as I've started to plan the details to write the next big fic that will follow this 'interlude'. The Muse has awoken and has big plans, so let's get this fic explored and ready for the next...

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**DAY 21 – CONSTRAINT**

**Chapter 22 – Unspoken Questions**

As much as Oneakka's decision to discharge himself back to his quarters had concerned Halling, as it always did, he had to admit that it was far more pleasant sitting in here at his friend's side compared to in the Healing Bay. One of the most spacious of quarters in the Facility and with its own large porthole window allowing in some limited natural light, Oneakka's quarters were light and bright compared to most in the base. Oneakka had decorated the room well too, painting the walls a bright white to reflect the limited sunlight, and the large plant sat by the porthole added a freshness to the air. It was a lovely room, even considering that it was essentially also a museum containing a wide collection of Ugun artefacts, a fact of which Halling was acutely aware following his recent surprising and emotional conversation with Oneakka.

Looking around at the room these last few days, Halling felt very conscious of the Ugun items displayed in here, though he knew that Oneakka had far more stored away. Alongside his quarters on the Sythus and several storage spaces, Oneakka also loaned out artefacts to various memorial collections, museums, educational and research facilities. He received currency for the loans, which he funnelled into a maintenance fund to help him purchase any newly discovered Ugun items that might turn up in auctions in or outside the Alliance. Since the Uguns had welcomed traders to their world, though never left their planet themselves, there had been a wide range of Ugun items out there for Oneakka to find.

Of course, Oneakka never had to haggle for any of his people's items he wanted to reclaim. Many people simply gave things to him, as had happened to an extensive degree back when people had first heard what had happened to his planet. After that, Ugun items had started turning up in auctions, both official and black-market. Halling wasn't sure how Oneakka was able to learn about them all, but all it took was him turning up in full battle armour and no one dared bid against him. Occasionally over the years, when Oneakka was away on mission, Halling had taken his place at such events, and had always followed Oneakka's orders precisely on being in full battle armour and how much to bid. Halling had usually arrived at the event, announced who he was and who he was representing, and there had never been any issues. Sometimes, the auctioneers had immediately removed the Ugun item from the auction and then tried to haggle with him directly. He suspected that Oneakka had never had such an issue, but Halling had always been able to meet Oneakka's monetary target and take home the item for Oneakka.

But each artefact, sometimes large or small, had felt very vulnerable and sad in Halling's hands. He had visited Ugun with Oneakka a few times, when Oneakka had needed help in sorting through some large debris on his planet. Since the days that Ugun had fallen and Oneakka had recovered from his significant injuries following his blood vengeance battle against the Queen and base that had planted itself on the ruins of Ugun, Oneakka had begun shifting through the ruins of his world. The Wraith had blasted the surface into a fiery mess, leaving nothing living, but fortunately the atmosphere had not been too badly damaged and the air remained breathable and free of radiation. Of course that was little solace for Oneakka, but it had meant that he could visit there in-between his Recruit training and then when he had graduated onto battle rotation. There had been barely anything left intact, but over the years Oneakka had still found plenty of items – even some large sculptures that had defied the flames and held mostly together.

Yet, it was the smaller items that held the real painful reminder of Oneakka's loss. Oneakka kept those closer to him, stored in both this room and in his quarters on the Sythus. The most delicate, and perhaps most poignant, of recovered items were kept in the glass-fronted cabinet stood next to the door here. In there were broken personal items, including a child's necklace. Halling preferred not to look in the cabinet that often, as he found it quite emotional; not just because it was a clear reminder of the horrific death of an entire people, but for the pain it surely must cause Oneakka. Halling had used to wonder if it was healthy for Oneakka to keep them in his home, seeing them every day, but he knew that those items had been pretty much untouched by Oneakka since he'd set them in the cabinet. The long shelves that lined the side wall opposite the window held many of Ugun items set in front of books and scrolls, but they never moved. They stood, surrounding Oneakka, but unused and simply displayed. It had occurred to Halling years ago that Oneakka was more of a curator of the Ugun planet and its remaining artefacts. He kept watch over his planet, reclaimed and rescued what artefacts he could, and then kept them safe, but they had always remained away from him.

Halling had never seen Oneakka wear anything from Ugun, not even recreations. Though Elite were supposed to leave any culture and religion of their homeworld behind them once they joined as young Recruits, the reality was that they all had remnants of their homeworlds that they expressed through their individual armour, clothing, tattoo location, and hairstyles. Oneakka though, had always dressed in basic, simple clothing and his armour was always a muted colour with no embellishments. The only cultural item he wore was the Ugun glyph tattoo over his heart, and that was far from a pleasant meaning.

Halling's own quarters were full of his Athosian heritage and he felt it was important for him to honour his people in that way. Every item in an Athosian home had a purpose, even if it was just for display, and everything was regularly ritually cleaned, not just for cleanliness but to touch and connect with the items and how it represented their people. Oneakka, in comparison, may live surrounded with his people's things, but only two items had actually belonged to him personally before the fall of Ugun: the tapestry displayed above the door here and the smiling statue of the Ugun 'Unnamed God' that sat on Oneakka's high headboard overlooking his bed. There was a duplicate statue in his Sythus quarters, but that had been given to Oneakka by a trader who had been gifted it by Oneakka's own father, the two having been friends. Apparently, Oneakka's father had been an excellent blacksmith and had been known to many traders, including Athosians. Halling had always wondered if Oneakka found it a blessing to have met people who had known his father, or whether it was a painful reminder; especially as those people had known Oneakka's father far better than his own son. Leaving Ugun to train as an Elite had been an honour for Oneakka and his people, and it had saved Oneakka from sharing their fate, but it had also prevented him from knowing his family. Like most Elite Recruits, he had had no contact with his family since the day he had left.

In light of recent events, that fact cut harshly in Halling's heart.

Though Oneakka had not spoken about his recent experience since their conversation, Halling had noticed some changes that suggested it remained on his friend's mind. Massa had noticed as well, but they had decided not to mention it to Oneakka yet. After all, for all the years since that fateful day, there had been an unspoken rule among those close to Oneakka to never speak about Ugun. If Oneakka brought it up then it was okay to talk about it carefully, but Oneakka rarely ever spoke of his people.

Until recently, Halling could not recall Oneakka talking about his family, and he had not spoken their names during that conversation. Halling knew their names from Oneakka's record, and it had always felt important for him to honour them on behalf of his bereaved friend, to speak their names out loud during the annual Athosian Ancestor Festival. They may not be his actual ancestors, but Halling felt it important that their names be spoken by someone for Oneakka. It was perhaps important only to him because of his Athosian upbringing, as for Athosians, biological family were vital and were believed to watch over their descendants. Which was why he had mentioned to Oneakka the belief that, if someone had had a visitation from their ancestors, then evidence would soon follow to confirm the authenticity of the experience. Though, Halling wondered if it had been wise to share that with Oneakka. Oneakka didn't believe in such things, but there had been an almost raw burst of hope in his friend's tearful blue eyes on hearing it. As much as Oneakka had disagreed, his eyes had said something different. Or, perhaps, it had been his heart and soul that had hoped, while his active and powerful mind had overridden it. Still...

Halling shifted his gaze from his research pad's full and busy screen to Oneakka's side table next to his chair. The table's surface held the usual items expected around Oneakka: books, a scroll, several electronic pads, and a pad of paper and a drawing tool. On the other side table stood on the opposite side of Oneakka's bed, there were more books, a timekeeping piece, and a covered jug of nutritional tonic that Oneakka had orders from Meiyo to drink today. Halling winced at recalling the taste of the liquid from his own recoveries over the years, and clearly Oneakka hadn't had any of it yet judging by the empty glass stood next to the jug. They were all usual items for Oneakka.

What was very new were two Ugun items, one on each side table. Each day that Halling visited, the items had changed too, and he was certain now that they were Ugun. On the closest side table to Halling, where yesterday there had been a metal cup, today there was a small blackened statue that he recognised usually sat on one of the shelves behind him. He had never seen any of the Ugun artefacts so physically close to Oneakka before, and clearly they were being changed at least once a day. Since Oneakka couldn't retrieve the items himself from the shelves, and neither Massa nor Halling had gotten them down for Oneakka, it was someone else. So it was either Seeal or one of the visitors to Oneakka's side during the day. Perhaps Nalla?

Either way, it was something very new. It worried Halling a little, though he wasn't sure if such a reaction was necessary or appropriate. There was nothing wrong with Oneakka handling the items in his home; perhaps he had always done this, but only when alone in his quarters and had simply left them on the shelves. Whereas now he needed them down by him to be able to connect with them? Or, was it what Halling worried about the most: that Oneakka was, even unwillingly, looking for something? Looking for that promised signal from his family that his vision had been true? Halling hated to think of his friend sat, emotionally in pain, looking hopefully through the broken and damaged things from Ugun in hopes of finding something. Though, if it was Nalla bringing Oneakka the items – which he suspected most likely - then it would mean that she approved of the emotional need and hopefully was supporting Oneakka in doing so. Nalla was one of few people that Oneakka was emotionally open to, as she was trusted by them all to be the caretaker of their feelings that she sensed without choice. Halling truly hoped it was her sat with Oneakka as he held his people's lost things.

Though, there was one other sign that Oneakka's past was becoming fresh for him again. Massa had reacted at its arrival too, and they had shared a surprised look across Oneakka's bed this morning. Since the surgical Healers had had to shave Oneakka's head for his surgery, Oneakka's hair had been growing back with surprising speed, to the point that Oneakka had had it clipped back at the sides. It was a subtle change considering his hair was still short, but the fact that he'd left the central part of his hair left longer had created a slight Mohawk; the hairstyle that Oneakka had sported for all his childhood and into his teen years as a Recruit. It had been his signature look, though the height of the central taller strip of hair had varied over those years, it had been part of his identity. Until he'd woken up in his recovery bed after battling the Wraith Queen on the bones of his world, when Oneakka had had the Mohawk shaved off almost immediately. Since then, he'd kept his hair all the same length and just cut it back every now and then for tidiness. Now though...

Halling shifted his gaze to Oneakka now, who was sat up against his piles of pillows, his head bowed over his own pad as he went through the latest Skerti research work with Halling. The hairstyle was actually even more obvious when looking at Oneakka in profile, and it was oddly shocking for Halling. It somehow merged the current day with those younger happier days when Oneakka had been known as a determined but playful young man. Back before the pain and scars had built up. Yet, was perhaps the return of the hairstyle a sign of some deeper healing? Or an honouring of his people perhaps? Halling wasn't sure, and he didn't feel that he should ask. He wondered if the hairstyle had been something all of Oneakka's family had worn or whether there had been some other cultural significance to it. Though, he suspected that if he did ask Oneakka about the return of the hairstyle, that Oneakka would simply say that it was to allow the Healers to access his new long jagged scar that ran backwards over his scalp from his hairline, running in line with his left eye. As the scar was closed up and looking like it was settling, Halling wouldn't believe that explanation, but he suspected it would still be Oneakka's excuse if he asked. So Halling said nothing.

In truth, it was a habit not to say anything sensitive to Oneakka, and something that Seeal had, somewhat accurately, called him and Massa on. She said that they both allowed Oneakka to always get his way, but though Seeal appeared to be allowed to ask questions of Oneakka that other people didn't dare, that did not mean that they should all start behaving that way. Admittedly, Halling was starting to agree with Massa that watching Seeal confront Oneakka was sometimes quite amusing, especially her recent frank questions about why Oneakka wouldn't allow her to help him to his bathroom. She hadn't mentioned the discussion since, though Halling had noticed that Oneakka had made a habit of going to the bathroom shortly before Seeal was due for her daily shift at his side. Halling had said nothing when assisting Oneakka across the short distance and into the bathroom. Oneakka could stand upright for a short period now, although taking a shower remained a real effort. Still, he and Oneakka had both helped each other with such things before and they were experts now at how to wash when hurt. The trick was to have the shower as quickly as possible and Oneakka to lean one shoulder against the wall while Halling soaped his back and legs, and Oneakka did his front and arms. Halling was simply amazed at how Oneakka's wound site was healing though. It was simply a series of red lines now on one side of his lower spine and on his right lower belly at the front. The internal damage was obviously more extensive, but Oneakka, as always, was healing wonderfully fast and Meiyo remained pleased with his progress.

Oneakka, of course, was not so pleased. Still, the current stage of his medication plan included some stronger pain-killing drugs to help him through the increased physical therapy he could now do. Still, even during those physical therapy sessions, Oneakka was actually not being as difficult and excessive as he usually was. For now, it appeared that he was not as grumpy, though it was possible that the sedating edge of the current meds were partly to blame, or, perhaps, he was choosing to behave himself after moving himself back to his quarters against everyone's advice. How long his current willing mood would last was anyone's guess, but Seeal was suspicious. She seemed to think that he was planning something. What exactly Seeal thought Oneakka was 'up to' was rather lost on Halling. He considered Oneakka now, seeing the slightly longer blinks that betrayed his sleepiness from the meds. Oneakka constantly resisted the urge to nap, but it nearly always got the better of him and he'd spontaneously fall asleep. The naps didn't last long, and Oneakka always snapped awake like he was shocked. Still, despite the sleepiness and physical discomfort, Oneakka's mind was as quick as always and he was a useful sounding board for Halling regarding the Skerti research. Plus, it gave Oneakka purpose and focus for at least part of each day when Halling sat with him.

"I don't think Division's latest Quantum gang intel is anything," Oneakka stated from his pad, which was currently displaying the reports of recent activity outside the border. The hope was to find anything that may indicate activity of the Skerti, but it was difficult to separate out other factors, especially the Wraith culling beyond the border. "The wars have been going on for years, especially now considering the gap in the Quantum dealing market that Khor's death created. It's not unusual that one clan goes silent."

Halling nodded as he scanned through another section of the report in question. "I agree. I think the Salvagers data is far more interesting."

Oneakka nodded. "Though they hardly check in across the border, so we can't be certain of numbers."

"True, but they range out far further than any other groups," Halling noted as he opened a new report from a non-Alliance trading planet where Division spies had been investigating.

"Because there's nothing out in those distant areas but rocks and nebulae," Oneakka replied, "which could make a great hiding place for the Skerti all this time. Uninhabited systems that no one visits, not even Wraith."

Halling nodded. "This latest report has corroborated the last one: Salvagers talking about having lost contact with an entire sector of their workforce. This one reported that the experienced Salvager he spoke to seemed very anxious. Salvagers do not scare easily."

"Mmm," Oneakka nodded. "And the reports are recent enough and the timescale fits in with just before the Nest Battle and the Seed Ship encounter."

"I believe it is one of our best leads," Halling tapped it onto the official list for investigation he was preparing for his meeting later. "I've put it on the list for my meeting with the Fleet Commanders." By that time, Atlantis would also be delivering their promised report on the vampire stories from their homeworld, so Halling anticipated a very full afternoon and evening. He had given his research team the morning off rotation in return for their time this evening once the Atlantis' intel arrived. He was just hoping that it was going to be as useful as he hoped, for it seemed that the Skerti had done an exceptional job at concealing themselves for seemingly thousands of years.

"Links conference?" Oneakka asked, lifting his eyes from his pad for the first time in hours.

"Yes, later this afternoon," he replied with a glance towards the timekeeping device on Oneakka's far side table, beside which sat the Ugun cup. "I saw Seeal moved her shift with you to this afternoon, so you have Massa's company this evening and tonight." Massa had volunteered for the night shifts sat with Oneakka, saying that his nights were full of broken sleep with Aki anyway, and since Oneakka rarely slept the whole night through in one go, it gave both of them company. Plus, Halling believed it also provided Massa with another pair of hands to care for Aki. Oneakka, as grumpy as he could be, was surprisingly tolerant and calm with young babes and Aki continued his fascination with Oneakka's facial tattoos.

"Seeal's off with her Sythus Strays to Myrtle's this evening," Oneakka explained the change in the rota. As was always the case, Myrtle's name was said with a faintly disgusted tone. The two males had never liked one another and had come to blows in the past. Halling didn't mind Myrtle's company, but kept that opinion to himself.

"I'm glad to hear Seeal is spending some time with her friends outside the Facility," Halling noted. She had dedicated so much of her time to looking after Oneakka around her project work and caring for the goats, so he thought it healthy for her to spend time away.

Oneakka shifted against his pillows, appearing uncomfortable. "Myrtle's doing his usual seduction routine to get intel on the High Council's ship building," Oneakka supplied what Halling already knew, well apart from the detail of the seduction part. He wasn't entirely sure how Oneakka could know that fact, or perhaps if Oneakka was just assuming that was how Myrtle was undertaking his investigation.

"There is still little definitive on where the High Council are building and how many ships," Halling steered the conversation away from Myrtle. "I wonder if we should approach Saoka again."

Oneakka glanced round, seeming to have now found a comfortable more reclined angle against his pillows. "Has Si talked to him yet?"

"I do not believe so, not since your confrontation with Saoka on his station."

"I didn't do the confronting," Oneakka frowned. "It was Si' interrogation. Well, and Seeal's hack into Saoka's station database."

"There has still been some discussion on actually using that possible 'back door' to check for ourselves whether Saoka knows more than he's telling us."

Oneakka nodded, blinking long and slow. The tiredness was starting to get the best of him, which was good. He'd had a very good therapy session earlier, having managed to walk completely around the room by holding onto the furniture and with the Physical Therapist's assistance, and he'd been reading all the detailed Skerti reports since the effort of taking a shower.

"I don't think Saoka knows more," Oneakka replied as he rolled his head from one side and then the other. Without being able to stop himself, Halling's gaze kept returning to the Mohawk.

"You don't?" Halling asked as he made himself focus on his friend's face, realising that he was a little surprised at Oneakka's conclusion.

"He'd have told Si by now," Oneakka explained. "Saoka's desperate."

Halling frowned at that conclusion. "That wasn't what you said after you and Si returned from the confrontation with Saoka."

"I passed through Saoka's main station just before the Rogue Hive issue kicked off," Oneakka reported. "Saoka arrived in person and followed me around the marketing stalls, clearly trying to get information out of me about Si. Said he was worried. Si' been blanking him."

Halling was very surprised at that, not only that Saoka had willingly appeared in person and tried to tap Oneakka for information – far from the most sharing of Elite warriors – but also because it was a subject and conclusion that seemed far too emotionally involved for Oneakka to normally care about and relay.

"It is likely that Saoka could have some contacts from beyond the border to help with the Skerti research," Halling considered. "Plenty of traders that cross the border visit his stations. We could approach him ourselves rather than through Si."

"Maybe," Oneakka considered with a slight slur, blinking hard.

"I wonder if there's any mention in the latest Division reports as to whether they have spoken with Saoka," Halling considered as he returned his attention to his pad, purposefully deciding to fall silent to allow Oneakka time to give into the need to sleep. Seeal wasn't due to take over from Halling for an hour, plenty of time for Oneakka to nap and then have a trip to the bathroom before she arrived.

Halling typed in a search for Saoka's name in the research database. He glanced up from the screen to Oneakka, to see that his friend already had his eyes closed, his head rocking forward a little. He was still resisting the lure of sleep, but he would clearly lose.

The search results came up with two references to Saoka, so Halling settled back into his chair to read as he heard Oneakka's breathing deepen in the peaceful silence.

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The Conference Room was busy, packed full in fact. John had picked a spot near the two large screens showing the latest on the Skerti and vampire research that they were due to deliver to the Elite later today. There was certainly plenty of vampire stuff to send: myths, legends, old pictures and a few modern movie screenshots for the Elite, and there was Dr Jackson's extensive review of vampire lore from when they'd first learned about the Wraith. But, outside of all that, which might not actually provide much for the Elite, they had diddlysquat. The Colonels clearly thought the same, Carter and Sumner leading the briefing with looks that, John didn't want to label as 'depressed' but it clearly wasn't a positive kind of meeting so far.

"...not even a single trace of any deletion points," Zelenka was reporting, Rodney at his side. "There's nothing to find to even attempt to retrieve." It was the science way of saying that the Ancients, if they had recorded anything on the Skerti, hadn't left even a footprint of what could have been there. It had been a real thorough information blackout, which was pretty telling for John.

"So they redacted everything," Sumner summarised.

"Redacted implies there's something there just covered up," Rodney replied, "there's _nothing_."

"So they either kept anything on the Skerti on a separate data-drive that they took with them, destroyed, or nothing was actually recorded in Atlantis' database," one of Rodney's team put in. She was an expert in data retrieval sent in by the IOA, but she looked like she wished she wasn't here.

"Yeah, or they could delete things better than we can," Rodney replied. "They built the database in the first place; they'd know how to do it."

"And we know the Ancients are usually pretty thorough," Colonel Carter concluded as she considered her clasped hands set on the shiny surface of the briefing table.

"Except when it comes to cleaning up their Wraith mess," John put in and Carter glanced at him with a pained smile.

"What about the search of the database on anything 'vampire' related?" Sumner asked the room.

"Well nothing came up when we typed in 'Dracula'," Rodney scoffed. "Maybe we should search for werewolves while we're at it."

John worked not to roll his eyes at Rodney. The guy was clearly feeling the pressure of not being able to find anything useful; he got real ratty it when he couldn't solve something.

"We've searched everything we can think of," Zelenka replied more helpfully. "Anything that involves draining life-force, blood drinking, night-time hunting, even just 'fangs', but everything we find inevitably relates back to the Iratus or the Wraith."

"Everything I ask the hologram lady just brings up the same," John added. "There's no hint of anything like the Skerti, outside of the Wraith." He'd spent hours in the hologram room, asking every kind of question he could think of from the holographic interface of the Ancient database.

"We've tried adding the Skerti DNA details we have from the Elite into the medical database again," Carson reported, "but the results simply say that it is related to the Wraith and Iratus Bugs. We've tried every avenue, but, as we know, the Ancients had already left out any useful details on the evolution of the Wraith. The Elite have agreed for us to receive Skerti cell samples tomorrow, so there's a chance using the Ancient scanner to scan them directly might yield something." Except John didn't think Carson looked all that confident.

"At least we have a comprehensive report on the vampire myths to provide to the Elite," Woolsey put in from the IOA section around the table.

"Daniel supplied anything new?" General O'Neill asked Carter.

"No, he's still in the thick of the peace negotiations off-world with that rebel Jaffa group who refuse to believe the Goa'uld aren't secretly controlling the Free Jaffa," she replied.

"The man has no idea how a vacation works," O'Neill muttered as he tapped a pen against the surface of the table.

The Colonel smiled faintly back at him. "He was able to send a quick message yesterday, but he says everything he found was in his research paper in relation to the Wraith. He asked around the Jaffa at the negotiations, but none of them had heard of anything like vampires. He suggests we ask more allies back home, see if the myths extended beyond Earth."

"So we've got nothing much to go on, unless the stories of garlic and silver are true," O'Neill concluded. He glanced round at John. "Do they have garlic in Pegasus?"

"Umm," John considered his culinary experience of Athosian buffets, "maybe."

"Maybe we should start importing it," O'Neill suggested.

"Dr Jackson did note in his paper that garlic has been used for thousands of years on Earth," Carson added. "It might have been around when the Ancients came to Earth."

"Or maybe they brought it with them," John considered.

"It could be that there is a chemical in garlic that Skerti are sensitive to," Carson noted.

"I've see that movie," John joked at the Doc and he smiled back.

"We can try exposing the Skerti cell samples we receive to garlic extracts," Carson suggested, "but we will be limited to how many cells the Elite provide us with. I suggest that we provide some bulbs of garlic for the Elite to test against the Skerti remains for more thorough testing."

Colonel Carter nodded. "I'll check with the Mess Hall," she smiled.

"Are we really thinking that garlic is going to be the super weapon we can use against these Skerti?" Rodney asked doubtfully. "That all we need to do is eat hummus every day and we're safe?"

"That and rent the Blade movies," John suggested.

"So, other than the hopeful possibility that the Skerti have a sensitivity to silver, garlic, or sunlight," Colonel Carter stated, "we're coming up short on anything else useful?"

There was a quiet pause as everyone crowded into the room reached the same conclusion.

"What's the latest on the Skerti drive specs?" Sumner asked into the silence.

"Unsurprisingly," Rodney replied, "nothing matches in the City database, but we're convinced that the Ancients were involved in its construction."

"I wouldn't say that we were 'convinced'," Zelenka put in. "The chances are high, but if the Skerti can indeed manipulate and copy Ancient technology then maybe-"

"Yes, yes," Rodney waved him quiet. "We've been through this a thousand times and if you'd just-"

"There's no way to know for sure," John summarised for them.

"Not unless we can get our hands on the drive itself," Sumner put in. "Open it up ourselves and see the tech inside."

"I've asked if we can send a delegation to see the drive firsthand ourselves," Carter replied with a glance towards Rodney and Zelenka. "I'm hopeful that the Elite will agree, but I sincerely doubt they'll let us borrow it."

"I have spoken with Imseti, their lead researcher into the Skerti's physiology," Carson added, "and I think they'll be willing to let us join one of their research teams studying the Iratus bug planet that's now included in Alliance space."

"No way I'm going on _that_ mission," John made it clear and he wasn't joking.

Carson sent him a sympathetic look. "Actually we've already exchanged research on the Iratus bugs themselves, this new research is going to be more archaeological in nature. If the Skerti did originate from the Iratus/Human hybrid, then that planet is their birthplace. The Elite researchers are hoping that there may be evidence of their original home concealed away in areas of the planet not yet studied. If we can find Skerti burials or cultural evidence that could be useful."

Carter nodded at Carson. "I agree, but that could take some time and will involve sending our own people into Alliance territory, and we know how dangerous the Iratus planet can be."

"Sheppard and Ford go into space battles with the Elite all the time," Rodney argued.

"True," Carter conceded. "I'll talk with Elite Halling about the details later when we dial in with our report," Carter nodded as she typed in a note on her tablet.

John let out a breath. The truth was that they didn't have much for Teyla and the Elite. The Colonel was right, unless there turned out to be any truth in the garlic or sunlight thing, they didn't have anything new. The Ancients had really done a number on the purge of anything Skerti related; unless it really was true that the Ancients hadn't known about them. Of course there was no way to find out, no one to ask...

The idea hit John suddenly.

"What we need is to ask an _actual_ Ancient about the Skerti," he told the room, interrupting something someone was saying. All eyes turned to him.

"Sure," Rodney replied. "You know where we can find one?" He asked sarcastically.

"_Proculus_," John confirmed. "Chaya."

"She was the exiled Ancient you encountered in your first year here?" Carter checked.

"Yeah," John nodded. He couldn't believe he'd not thought of this sooner.

"From what I remember of the reports, she's prevented by the other Ascended Ancients from helping anyone other than the people on Proculus."

"True," John conceded, "but there's no harm in asking her."

The Colonel pulled a doubtful expression. "I'm not sure that'll work. We know from past experience," she glanced at the General, "that the Ancients follow through on policing their own. Even if she wanted to help us, they won't let her."

"But some Ancients _have_ helped us," John insisted. "They've found loopholes before. There was Janus who helped Elizabeth save the City, and Merlin helped you guys against the Ori."

Carter glanced at the General. "And Morgan Le Fay."

"There's no harm in asking," John pushed. "If the Skerti get loose in this galaxy, they'll be a threat to Proculus too."

"There's no guarantee that she'll even meet with us," Colonel Carter pointed out. "From what I read, she only appears in corporal form occasionally for her people."

"She's let me visit her several times before," John replied. "If I go by myself, she'll talk to me."

"Except you're married now," Rodney added. "That might be an issue."

He hadn't thought of that. He'd not visited Chaya's world in a good year or more too, so it might be a bit awkward. "It's still worth me asking her."

He watched Carter and O'Neill exchange a look.

"If nothing else, she might be able to tell us the Ancients had nothing to do with the Skerti," John considered. Surely if that was true then she would be able to confirm that at least. "If she can help, I know she will," John stressed.

"It's more whether they'll let her," O'Neill added with a look that told John that the General had already reached his own conclusion. But what would it hurt to ask?

At least it was something to actually do to help, something possibly definite about the Skerti he could provide Teyla and the Elite. Even if it was simply that the Ancients had nothing to do with them.

"Okay," Carter agreed. "Take a Jumper and see if she'll help us. I won't mention it to the Elite, as I understand that we agree to keep her existence confidential."

"Great," John grinned; he finally had something concrete to do to help.

Except he noticed Rodney's pointed look. Yeah, it was actually good point that he was going to have to tell Chaya about Teyla, and he'd not told Teyla about the Ascended Ancient, because he'd promised not to tell anyone. He kind of felt bad in regards to both of them now, but hopefully Chaya would understand that he was married now.

And hopefully she'd still be okay with helping with intel on the Skerti...

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TBC


	23. Conflict

**Note:** A shout out to Camy – hey girl :)

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**DAY 21 – CONSTRAINT**

**Chapter 23 - Conflict**

There was nothing left around him.

Just an endless dark landscape of hillocks and dips of dark dunes of ash and burnt cinders. No mountains, no water, no plants or life in any form.

Part of him was aware that wasn't right, that the surface of Ugun didn't look like this, but at the same time he didn't question what he saw. The flashing memories of the tall mountains, once more crested with snowfall, and the rain falling over the bare ground, didn't seem to conflict with what was around him now. Here there were no structures – manmade or natural – just an endless wasteland of dark dunes of dirt devoid of life.

Oneakka shifted where he stood, turning, seeking out the endless fields, border fences and empty farm buildings he'd been searching through before, but they were all gone. Now there was just this empty dead landscape.

And him.

He turned further, completing a full circle, and the cinders caught sharply against his bare feet. Peering down at the pain, he frowned at the ashes against his feet, only to see light flickering oddly off the ground.

He crouched down, gravel-like scratching sounds audible from just his weight shifting on his feet. He scooped up a handful of the earth and it was oddly heavy. It wasn't ash or even soil, but sand. Dark empty granules of sand, the edges sharp against the sensitive places between his fingers as he let the handful drop back to the ground under him. He noticed that the air didn't stir the sand's fall. Even the air was devoid of life.

He ran his gaze across the dark sand under him. Perhaps there was something underneath it? Something hidden, but still living?

He scraped his hands through the sharp sand, scooping it aside, trying to dig down into it. It resisted his actions, the sand sliding back into place, cutting at his skin as it did. But he kept at it, digging faster, desperation growing to find something.

Anything.

But there was still nothing else in the now foot deep hole he was creating. Nothing but his own blood dribbling down off his fingers and palms.

Blood on his hands.

He kept digging. Ignoring the pain, the cuts, and the hard work it took.

He had to find something left.

Panting with the exertion, he set one hand down into the base of the growing hole, the sand now holding back at the sides. Pawing into the forming pool of his own blood at the base of the hole, he kept working.

There had to be _something_.

The hole went deeper and he knelt down into its growing depth, using both hands again to scoop the sharp sand side.

Deeper he went, blood-soaked sand forming glittering high sides of the well he was forming.

Above him, he heard the flap of wings and a caw, but he ignored the watching eyes on his back. He kept on digging.

Yet he found nothing but endless painful edges as he went deeper.

Until finally, his muscles hurting and his breath panting out of him, he lifted his hands from the task, his palms cut to shreds, and slammed his fists down into the pool of blood. Crying out in raging fury, he screamed out his heart in the narrow confinement of the hole he'd dug down into his dead world.

His rage cut at his throat and he finally ran out of breath, so he sat back on his heels, dropping his head back. His heart hammered in his chest, the urge to scream boiling up again in him as he looked up towards the distant circle of sky and sunlight far above him. And high up there, perched on the edge of the hole, the raven looked down at him.

He watched as the bird's delicate little feet edged sideways along the lip of the hole as she angled her head to peer down at him, a croak of bird-speak indecipherable to him, but he could still hear the judgement in it.

Or, perhaps, a warning.

He pulled his eyes away from the dark watchful eyes and frowned at the tall sides of the hole stretching up above him like a towering chimney.

He heard the sand begin to slide, the rushing sound growing louder as the sides of the hole began to fall in, cascading down over him.

Seeking to bury him too.

Oneakka woke with a start, leaning up and away from the pillows, the sound of the falling sand a suffocating sensation of rushing panic. His wound caught at the sudden movement and he drew in a sharp breath as he blinked furiously around at the room beyond the end of his bed.

His quarters. He was safe.

A sudden noise from behind his right shoulder grated at his nerves though and he twisted his aching neck round in near panic. Wraith? Skerti?

No, he was in his quarters and the noise was...he couldn't see. No one was sat in either of the chairs, no one was in view. The shifting sound played again, now obviously someone's boots against the smooth floor. Someone was in here, out of his view around behind the wide side of his headboard that was also a chest of drawers accessible from the other side. He craned his neck, leaning as much as his wound would allow him, still blinking sleep out of his eyes.

To finally see one side of Seeal across the room, her back to him as she reached up to the long shelves along the side wall.

"What are you doing?" He demanded hotly, his heart still racing.

Raven looked round over her shoulder, leaning more into view. "Ah, you're awake," she said unnecessarily. There was something in her hand. "I'm just cleaning up the dust up here."

She was dusting his shelves?

What time was it? When had she gotten here and why hadn't he woken up?

He felt weirdly disorientated as he looked away from her and round to the left side table beside his bed where his timekeeping piece glowed. The time couldn't be right. He'd slept for over four hours?

He frowned at the display, noticing that it was at a different angle than how he'd left it, and the pile of books next to it had been adjusted into a neater stack. The Ugun ceremonial cup he'd been studying earlier had been moved slightly as well and the jug of nutritional tonic was definitely closer to him rather than where he'd put it on the far side of the table. That simple act was Seeal reminding him to take it. He didn't need her 'reminding' him; he'd drink it when he was good and ready.

"Did you move my things?" He demanded as he wiped at his face, feeling the faint wetness of dribble on one side of his chin. She'd been moving his things right next to him and he hadn't woken up?

"I'm _just_ getting rid of all the dust. It's not good for you to be breathing this all in," Seeal answered. "I didn't move anything."

"These books have been moved," he pointed out her lie, looking back round towards her. She was still just faintly out of view, forcing him to peer round at her again, his neck complaining.

She stepped into view, facing him now with her hands on her hips, the dusting cloth in one hand. "I just _dusted_ them," she said with tone.

He realised that she was dressed all in black; she didn't do that anymore, and it was suddenly just a little too similar to the raven in his dream, peering down at him, judging him. He looked away from her, oddly shaken by the weird coincidence.

"Don't you have Myrtle's to get to?" He asked, guessing that explained the change of usual clothes.

"Wow," Seeal muttered as she turned back towards the shelves. "You sure woke up cheerful."

He glared round at her as she resumed her dusting, more in view now. He glanced along the line of shelves. If she was working her way from the far right corner of the room then she was almost halfway across. How long had she been in here and he hadn't woken up?

It must be the latest medication, making him slow and weak. Maybe the meds were also behind the nightmares, he wondered.

"I'm not leaving for Myrtle's for a couple of hours," she continued.

He looked back round at her, fixing his eyes on her hands, making sure she wasn't moving anything on the shelves. They were in a precise order and they were important things up there. The only person he'd allowed to touch anything up there recently had been Nalla and he'd given her precise instructions on what to bring him and where the returning items should go.

"Don't move anything," he told Seeal's back.

"I'm not," she answered, but he could clearly hear the eye roll in her voice. "I'm just removing the dust." He glared up at her hands as she worked the cloth over the top shelf above her. She did appear to be carefully moving the statically-charged cloth over the line of books, then the shelf surface and then around an Ugun keepsake box.

He frowned away from her, only to spot a large electronic pad lying on the side of his bed by his right knee. It wasn't his, was it? He looked round at the right side table, which had also clearly been tided. A small Ugun mountain-region harvest statue had definitely been moved and the books, again, had been adjusted into a neat stack. His pad was sitting on top of that pile where he'd left it.

"What's this pad?" He demanded of her as he glared back to the new pad lying on the blanket over him. When had the blanket been put over him? It had just been over the foot of the bed when he'd fallen asleep. Had she done that or Halling? And they'd put a pad on his bed and he'd still not woken up?

Clearly his medication was _far_ too strong.

"It's for you," Seeal replied, her voice shifting as she moved further along the shelves. "I loaded it with a gift Sheppard sent through for you when Atlantis dialled in their big vampire research report."

"What gift?" Oneakka asked, frowning at the pad. Why was Sheppard sending him another gift?

"He said it's recordings of an Earth sporting event, said it would help distract you while you're bedbound."

"I'm not bedbound," he objected to that complete exaggeration. "I can leave the bed."

"Fine," she replied over her shoulder at him, "I meant for your _recovery_."

He narrowed his eyes at what had sounded like faint sarcasm in her voice, but she was looking back to his shelves and he couldn't see her face.

"It's hours of recordings of a competition where all the different peoples of Earth send their best contenders to compete in different sports. He called it the 'Olympics'," she pronounced the word slowly as if she wasn't sure. "Sheppard said it will keep you enthralled."

That did actually sound interesting.

"Fine," he agreed to the gift, but didn't reach for the pad just yet. He frowned round at her again and watched as she sidestepped to her left as she worked, dressed in her raven black outfit. It was all bizarrely similar to the way the raven had edged along the lip of sand in the nightmare.

He looked away from her.

Why did she keep showing up in his dreams anyway? And here, sneaking around, moving things without him knowing about it.

In the dreams she was always watching him, peering at him. Like she always did now, looking at him like he was either going to break apart or 'cause a scene' as she'd said the other day.

"Meiyo said you need to make sure you drink all of that nutritional tonic today," Seeal added.

"Meiyo was here?" He asked her back. He'd slept through that too? Was it Meiyo who had moved the jug closer to him?

"No," Seeal confirmed though. "She asked me to remind you."

So it was her who had moved the jug and its accompanying glass. He'd been right.

And Meiyo was contacting Seeal about his medication now?

"You need to drink _all_ of it today," Seeal repeated.

"I know," he snapped at the nagging. "I've taken it before."

"Alright, Grumpy," Seeal muttered.

He pulled his bedding and the offending blanket further up against his chest as he carefully worked his backside back up against the wedge and pillows. He'd slumped in his sleep and he had to move carefully so as not to pull on his stupid wound in order to get back into a more upright position again. Back against the wedge again, the pillows started tumbling out from behind him. He reached back and shoved them back in behind him; except, suddenly Raven was there, pulling them out and plumping them up.

Why did she always have to do that?! He couldn't even keep control of his own pillows on his own damn bed without her interfering.

"I've got it," he complained at her.

But she ignored him and kept messing with his pillows.

"Stop it!" He lost his temper in an instant. "I didn't ask for a wife!"

She shot back away from him, her mouth dropping open in shock. He'd never seen her look so stunned, reacting more like he'd hit her or something.

Wait, had he just accused her of being his _wife_?

"You take that back _right_ now," she demanded loudly as if it was a threat, a pillow still in her hand.

Apparently being called his wife was the absolute worst insult. He felt instantly more affronted.

"No," he snapped back.

"You take that back or I'm _never_ talking to you _ever_ again!" She practically shouted at him.

"Fine," he met her bluff. "Don't talk to me ever again. It'll be a relief!"

"Difficult, arrogant male!" She tried to insult him as she threw the pillow at him.

He caught the soft projectile easily and shoved it behind his back, exactly where _he_ wanted, _not_ her. "I don't need you sneaking around me while I sleep," he told her.

"Sneaking?" She echoed. "An _entire_ herd of stamping wild-festers could have stormed through here and you wouldn't have woken up."

"I have no idea what wild-festers are," he countered loudly.

"They're huge big stomping cattle that trample their own kind half the time," she answered.

He glared at that analogy. "I don't stomp on anyone."

"Liar!" She accused him, "And you can be damn well certain that _no_ woman would _ever_ be mad enough to even _consider_ being your wife!" She said with each emphasised word dripping with absolute certainty as she pointed her finger angrily at him.

He felt a hot flush at the unexpectedly effective insult. "I don't ever want a wife so there's no problem there," he countered quickly.

"Good," she shouted back as she threw the dusting cloth to the floor and started stomping towards the door. "Because, trust me, no one wants _that_ job!"

"I thought you weren't ever going to talk to me again?" He demanded.

Was she actually going to leave and never talk to him again?

She stopped and swung round. "You can take care of yourself from now on," she stated, pointing at him again, "Because I'm not helping you _anymore_."

"Good," he shouted back and crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "Go away."

She started mouthing something that looked like it was going to be a particularly venomous insult, her fists clutched tightly in the air in front of her.

He waited for what she thought she could throw at him next.

Except, she abruptly closed her eyes and lowered her fists, loudly breathing out as if calming herself. Like she was trying to reach for patience and he was the one being difficult. She was the one invading his space and moving his things without his permission!

She let out another long out breath as she opened her eyes again and opened her fists. "You're hurt, injured, and just being a Cuddly Bear of Moor," she stated like she was reasoning it out to herself rather than talking to him. "You're just striking out at those you trust."

"You think I trust _you_?" He asked sarcastically, but immediately regretted it.

"Right, that's it!" she snapped instantly back into anger, "I'm definitely _never_ talking to you again."

"Fine!" He shouted back, aware that he had lost control of the situation and had no idea where this was going.

"You can take care of yourself, because I don't care," she stated angrily. "Now drink your tonic and watch your Earth sports!"

She turned and stormed dramatically out, the door barely sliding open in time for her to get through it, outside of which she made a sharp turn in the corridor and disappeared from view, the door sliding shut behind her.

He stared at the closed door, his fast angry breathing the only sound.

Good. He didn't need her around him all the time like she was: into everything, smelling all feminine, hovering over him like he was weak and pathetic.

Even if she thought she was being helpful.

His whisperer.

He cursed into the silence, regretting the trust comment. He hadn't meant that.

But that didn't give her the right to mess with his things and order him around. He glanced back to the shelves, checking nothing had been pushed near an edge. Not that he could do a damn thing about it himself right now. He couldn't do anything without help.

Nothing looked out of place across the room, except the dusting cloth lying alone on the floor.

And the new pad on his bed.

He considered the pad for a moment and grabbed at it, pulling it up onto his lap. He triggered the screen awake with a touch as it recognised his Beacon. A long list of recordings appeared. Seeal was right that there were days' worth of footage to watch. All from a planet in another galaxy.

He started the first recording and a blue sky appeared above a massive and packed arena. Words floated out of the pad's speakers, understandable to him, but there were names and things mentioned in quick succession that he couldn't recognise. Maybe the Earth different peoples had different regional clan names?

The door abruptly opened across from him and he snapped his head up.

Had she come back?

Only it was Massa who stepped through, a sleeping Aki wrapped up in his arm. "Hi," Massa smiled, his voice pitched lower than normal in that way he always did when Aki was asleep. "I hear I need to start my shift with you early today."

She'd gone and gotten Massa to come sit in with him in her place. Damn her. He couldn't get even a few minutes alone without her imposing her will on him.

"Fine," Oneakka reluctantly agreed though. At least Massa wasn't going to fuss over him.

"She's off to Myrtle's early then?" Massa asked as he headed for the chair on Oneakka's right and set Aki' care bag down on the floor. Oneakka watched him out the corner of his eyes, assessing Massa's tone and expression for any sign he knew about the argument. Surely if he did, he'd be quick to want to talk about it; seeing things in an argument that just weren't there.

"Did you drop this?" Massa asked and Oneakka looked round to see him indicating the dusting cloth on the floor.

"Seeal did," Oneakka answered, again assessing Massa's face, but the guy just frowned.

"That's not like her," Massa commented as he reached down and picked up the cloth, Aki still fast asleep in his other arm.

"She just dropped it," Oneakka found himself explaining as he turned his attention back to the paused screen on the pad.

"Just accidentally?" Massa asked, suspicion clear in his voice now.

"I'm watching Earth sports from Sheppard," Oneakka quickly changed the subject.

"Earth sports?" Massa's interest was immediately piqued as he settled Aki on the bed.

Oneakka shifted himself carefully sideways to make space for the sleeping boy. It was pretty rare to see the babe asleep for any long periods lately and, even asleep, the boy's little cheeks were noticeably red due to his pushing through so many teeth. He certainly cried a lot in the night, if the last two nights were any judge, and it had given Oneakka a new respect for his friend to deal with that all the time. Not that he'd admitted that to Massa.

"It any good?" Massa asked of the sports as he adjusted his chair to sit alongside the bed, giving him the best view of the pad and also using the chair to create a barrier so Aki wouldn't roll off the bed.

"I've only just started it," Oneakka replied and tapped the screen to restart the recording from the very beginning.

Massa leaned in with eager interest. "So that's Earth."

Oneakka nodded as he made himself relax back against his pillows, considering that maybe plumping them up a bit might be worthwhile, but not right now.

He wondered if Raven would actually follow through on her weak threat to never visit him or talk to him again. Like he believed she'd be able to actually keep in her opinion about anything. It didn't matter to him anyway.

At least he had Madesh in place to report back on any inappropriate behaviour from Myrtle tonight.

"Oh and Seeal said that I've got to make sure you drink _all_ of your nutrition tonic," Massa added.

Oneakka let out a frustrated sigh as he rolled his eyes up to the ceiling.

"Do you need the bathroom before we watch the sports?" Massa asked, but the question was laced with the man's stupid ongoing amusement about the other day.

"No!" Oneakka informed him firmly.

00000

She sensed the moment the wormhole began forming high up in orbit above Proculus.

Chaya lifted her corporeal eyes to the bright blue sky above her and focused her senses on the swirling formations of energy. Increasingly the Wraith were sending scouting parties through, full of desperation for new feeding grounds now that their numbers were being threatened into retreat. She could deal with such testing visits swiftly and decisively though, her punishment at least allowing her to be able to shield and protect those under her care.

She felt the wormhole solidify into its stable structure and then the first pulsations from within it that was a ship moving through.

She paused her physical fingers from tending to a sickly leaf of a tall plant within her 'temple' courtyard and waited for the visitors to reveal themselves.

A moment later, she felt the sliding smoothness of her people's technology emerge from the wormhole and, at the craft's helm, his presence was undeniable.

John.

She stepped away from the healed plant leaf and stared up at the sky above, feeling his presence seep into her being even from so far away.

He had returned.

It had been a long time since he had last visited her. Though, the progression of time was sometimes difficult for her to judge. In her ascended form time meant little to her, years and centuries similar in their brevity, being merely a dimension to perceive or not. But when she was in her corporeal form, walking on Proculus to tend to all the living things on the planet under her care, she felt the weight of time's passing.

But that was not all her body could allow her to perceive.

She could feel her very physical reaction to feeling his presence lowering down into Proculus' atmosphere. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, awakening further hormones, all coursing through her, drawing forth soft beautiful memories of her time spent with John. She fixed her physical eyes upon the wisps of cloud casting delicate shade across the lands she served, and she waited for her first sight of his vessel descending down to her.

It had been beyond an age in corporeal form that she had felt these powerful reactions before she had met John. For thousands of solar cycles of Proculus, lengths of time through which she served her people, she had paid her dues as the punishment bestowed upon her by The Others. Her penance for a past action that had altered the destiny of Proculus and those that would have attacked it. It was an act that she still did not regret, though she understood the gravity of what she had done, and so she stood guard over the populace here whose fate she had altered. Under her care she could at least keep them safe and balanced.

John felt the opposite.

He brought turbulence and uncertainty into her being.

A dark spot high in the distance was the ship, descending down and around, down towards where he had previously left the craft when he had visited her. At her request, he had kept away from the rest of Proculus on his previous visits, having no contact other than with an Abbot who may have been assisting her in the prayers to 'Athar'.

Yet, the last time John had visited had to be some time ago. She frowned with her corporeal brow as she sought the understanding of the time that had passed. It had to be over at least one solar cycle, for she had tended to the annual festival at least twice since John's last visit. She had noticed that the lengths between his visits had grown and, eventually, he had not returned.

It was as it should be, of course. His life was short and mortal, while hers was eternal and her punishment unending. Sometimes she had imagined that he might decide to dedicate his life to the pursuit of ascension. She suspected that, as a child of the Lantean ancestry that had escaped to Earth, that The Others would have granted him a place here on Proculus. She had fanaticised of a life in which they could live together here within the walls of the temple. That she could help him develop his mind and that, one day, he too would ascend and join her.

Yet, such a shared experience would never happen and she had always known as much.

He was a man of action, of structured and decisive intervention to protect any and all life. It was exactly what her own past misdeed had been driven by, so she understood and appreciated his life's focus. It seemed that his people, and those working together on the far side of this galaxy, were finally reaching a point of being able to push back the might of the Wraith. To strike out with violent tendencies that her fellow Ascended beings had rejected as a method of stopping the Wraith, but now the descendants of Atlantis were helping forge a new destiny for this galaxy and their own.

John had destiny in his being, and it was a destiny of which she was not a part.

So when he had stopped visiting her, she had been sad but also...relieved.

She examined the sensations inside her being now as she watched the vessel growing increasingly larger in the sky. She had missed him, but had grown used to him being gone. In fact part of her wanted him to remain gone, to ease the pain of his loss and the life she was denied. Of the true depths of her punishment made manifest. But, feeling his presence growing closer, she also felt the delight. The overwhelming urges of instinct and affection crushing through her physical body. She had almost forgotten how powerful such reactions felt in physical form, how overwhelming.

The ancient craft's buzzing engines became audible to her ears and she watched him alter his descent, aiming now for his choice of landing place.

And with that nearness, she felt rushes of indecision within herself. Would it be better for both her and John if she left before he arrived? She could slide the molecules of this physical form apart and become the energy being that was her true form, and allow herself the distance she had gained and some solace from the torture of what she could not have. Of the punishment set upon her shoulders.

Out beyond the thick stone walls of the temple, she could feel the air stirring under the descent of his ship, the air moving anew with his presence on her world.

She could easily leave and he would never know she had been here...

But the chance to see him again... To see his smile and feel the warmth of his company...

She felt the moment his ship touched the grass and then the soil of Proculus. He was so close.

However, she felt a sudden pressing attention upon her.

The Others.

They were focusing intently upon her.

Not just the guardians who kept her to her punishment, but more. If not all of them!

All watching her - focused and intent.

Something was wrong.

She frowned and realised there was a question she had not considered: Why had he returned now?

She turned in the middle of the courtyard, all alone except for the plants around her, and she focused through the stone arched entrance through which John would appear. Out through that opening, through the outer courtyard through to the entrance of the temple and out across the short stretch of dancing grasses to where John was emerging from the ship, she stretched her mind, allowing herself to open up to her greater senses.

She could feel John's determination, but also his caution and nervousness wrapped around him like an anxious blanket.

He wanted something from her.

The Others' attention intensified.

Something new was occurring to John and his people then, something which had driven him to seek her out.

For her knowledge. Not just to see her, to walk at her side in the sunlight again. He wanted something, something that charged his nerves worriedly.

She expanded her being, scattering her atoms to burst into her energetic true form and from which she could connect in more directly with the perception she shared with The Others. Seeking out into the expanse, each of John's steps towards her becoming an age in that swollen place of knowledge and essence, she connected in with her kind fully. Reaching beyond Proculus' bubble that was hers to tend, she stretched out to understand the greater picture.

Instantly she understood and within half of John's next step she was back in the courtyard.

The Skerti had returned.

She felt a tremble of a chill across her warm corporeal skin.

Of course this day would come; the shame of her people's mistakes would not die away so easily. And John was here because he suspected their involvement and was seeking knowledge from her. Knowledge she was forbidden from providing.

His boots stepped from the grass to the flagstones of the temple's entrance.

She could provide him with the answers to all his questions...

_No_

The Others' communal whisper vibrated into her physical being.

_Not your place_

She crushed her eyes shut, wishing that she did not have such a conflicted heart.

Destiny had to unfold as it should and she could not interfere with it. Not again.

But she wished she could.

Oh how she wanted to whisper to him the truths that could help him and others.

_Not your place_

They repeated.

A hundred thousand eyes of her kind all focused upon her, watching, waiting. Waiting to see what she would do. And, no doubt, to act if she tried to find a way to help John.

His bootsteps became audible on the floor beyond the archway.

He would look at her with those handsome eyes, his being begging her to help him. To ease his and others' burdens. To save lives of those already being taken by the Skerti.

"Chaya?" His voice rang against the temple's cool walls, echoing in through the archway and into the courtyard. She could practically feel the vibrations of the air that were his words, cast from his lungs and lips...

She shed her molecules apart, scattering herself into light and lifted up to merge into the air above the courtyard as he stepped through the archway.

"Chaya?" He called as he walked into the courtyard. "It's John."

As if he could doubt that she would not have known he was coming, let alone forget who he was.

"Chaya?" He turned to the right, heading for the steps up to the prayer room. "Are you here?" He started up the steps, taking them two at a time as he hurried up their height.

The anxiousness was so obvious to her as it played around the edges of his mind, nervous to share with her the changes in his life.

She knew them though from her expanded awareness. Knew of the woman with dark eyes and powerful fate. The two of them forming waves of change together. A combined force that would help play a part of the great changes that would one day transform two galaxies and more. A love so powerful that it ran through his veins and hung like a cloud of rosy softness around his heart.

He loved another.

"Chaya, are you here?" John called into the empty prayer room and, upon finding no one, he turned back to look out across the courtyard below.

She remained quiet, unnoticeable to anyone in her current form, but she couldn't help but remain close.

Close to the assistance she desperately wanted to provide him.

The temptation to descend into form again niggled at her being, but, in this form, the rush of the need for passionate connections was at least more manageable. And where she could truly feel the eyes of The Others upon her, helping her to keep true to what was required.

Though, she realised, many had turned their focus away from her now. It spoke of an understanding on their part that she was not going to help John, regardless of her current perceptions of indecision. They knew she would keep the shameful secrets of her people; that she would not interfere in the true course of destiny this time. It was in essence an act of approval by The Others, which was something she had not felt in an eternity of time. Yet, it was little consolation for her in denying John what he wanted.

She watched as he descended the steps back down to the courtyard.

"Chaya, are you here?" He asked the open air. "I need to talk to you."

He turned on the spot, looking up around him and through her without pause.

"I need your help," he appealed. "It's not about the Wraith," he explained as he moved across the yard, peering around one large plant into the small seating area where she liked to sit in the morning sunlight. "Or bringing anyone to Proculus. I need to talk to you about some other things."

His new love and his new enemy.

"Chaya?" He asked into the air, his tone slipping into doubt.

She could not help him.

She could never help him.

Even if she were to try, The Others would stop her. But they already knew there was no need.

He moved to the wooden bench in the sun and sat down. He let out a sigh as he glanced round at the items she had left near the bench. Her tools for adding new soil to the large pots and flowerbeds, and a nearly emptied cup of tea she had been sipping while she had been healing a plant.

She watched him reach out and feel the sides of the cup. She could tell that the resulting slight warmth was no answer for him. Had she just been there or had the sun kept it warm?

He set his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands over his face, his mind assessing. "I know I haven't been around for awhile," he said into the air. "I'm really sorry I haven't visited. Things have been pretty crazy." He looked down at his hands as he rubbed his palms together. "Maybe you already know why," he considered, "and maybe why I'm here?" He pondered.

He let out a sigh.

"Or maybe you're not even here," he added as he glanced at the plant on his immediate left. "And I'm just talking to the plants." He reached out and touched a deep green leaf.

He let go of the leaf and looked around him. "So maybe I'll just stick around for a bit in case you come back," he considered, but he was almost entirely talking to himself now. She sensed in him the suspicion that her absence was her answer to his unasked questions, but, as was in his nature, he still felt determined to ask and be certain.

She suspected, as he sat back a little on the bench to sit more comfortably, that he would remain here awhile.

But she could not.

She was holding to her promise to The Others to keep to the rules, but she did not entirely trust herself to keep in the truths by remaining close to him. They could not be together and she could not be his informant from within Ascended ranks, providing him knowledge that was not his to know.

Or hers to share.

She drew herself up through the air of Proculus, high up above the temple's courtyard, John becoming a tiny speck of a dot in the landscape. It helped her a little, but she knew she would be vividly aware of him for every second he was on her world.

But, for now, she floated away, spreading her awareness across the land, seeking out those that she could actually actively help.

0000  
TBC


	24. Old Habits

**DAY 21 – CONSTRAINT**

**Chapter 24 – Old Habits**

In many ways, bars, clubs and gambling halls were far more familiar places to Madesh than anywhere else. From the orphanage where Mother had left him, he had striven to use his gift to help him survive. From brokering deals in the orphanage's hallways to avoiding the worst of tasks in the workhouses his fellow 'orphans' were automatically fed into, he'd managed to develop his gift enough to escape that life, but had instead found his way into the brutal world of clans, gangs, gambling debts, and drug abuse. Some days he wondered if the workhouse would have been a better life for him, albeit that it would have been a shorter and more painful one.

Pain had been a huge part of his life, mostly in the form of beatings or the threats of them from those who had used his gift as a weapon. He'd simply been something attached to the ability to read people, and a part that had been far too willing to acquiesce to the demands of the violent bullies and murderers that had ruled so many non-Alliance towns in which he'd lived. Years of his life had been lost to dark seedy clubs and bars where he'd been dragged around by his collar and thrust at terrified victims, ordered to read their innocence or guilt.

And in the eyes of those victims and in his oppressors, he'd seen the very worst of lives, where mistakes only led to more mistakes, and where violence and manipulation were seen as the only way to avoid poverty and death.

But it had been his own soul reflected back from his own eyes in that broken mirror that had finally sent him fleeing from that life. Squeezing through a tiny open window, he had run and he'd not really stopped running since, not inside. At least, not until he met the Elite.

Now his life was dedicated to service, to do all he could to help those whose eyes had shown him how true power should be used: that the strongest, quickest, and most intelligent were tasked to better the galaxy and protect the weak and vulnerable.

However, that truth did not stop old habits of survival for Madesh. As he walked through the low lighting of the first mezzanine level in Myrtle's, he felt all his old instincts rear to life. His head lowered, he flittered his gaze around everyone he could see or hear, assessing everyone in lightening speed, looking for signs of violence, seeking out who was the most dangerous and therefore to be avoided. He could feel the nervous adrenaline in his system, heightened by each drunken fuelled wild laughter and chatter of those around him simply having fun. But for him, it was all too familiar and his body responded from a lifetime of survival instincts, begging him to watch everyone but to keep his eyes down and away from even the chance meeting another's direct gaze and triggering the full level of his gift.

Of course, here in Myrtle's the majority of the clientele were Alliance Military and he'd seen no violence here so far. But, that didn't stop him from assessing everyone around him, just in case.

A sharp loud laugh from near the trailing overlooking the dance floor caught at his attention and he shot his eyes that way, quickly assessing the woman and man stood at the railing, drinks in hand. A sudden and fast assessment of their postures, clothes, expressions, and that extra 'something' about people that he could detect even without looking into their eyes, told him that there was no threat.

He looked away from the couple and became aware of the breath he had been holding. He let it out, remembering the breathing techniques that the Honoured Elite had taught him. From his first days in the Healing Bay following his arrival at the Facility, he'd been taught how the breath links to the nervous system, which then links to the heart and brain. Apparently all Elite Recruits were taught the techniques from their days as children, and so Madesh focused on the calming deep breathing as he negotiated his way between shoulders and backs of the innocent patrons around him. Despite the busyness of this level, it was clear that the evening had not truly started yet in Myrtle's. A famous band was due to play live here later, and so the club actually had a relaxed patient vibe. People were simply talking and laughing with friends and colleagues, flirting with potential lovers and telling dramatic war stories.

There was no threat here.

The only threat that Madesh had anticipated had been Myrtle himself, as Honoured Elite Oneakka had tasked him with monitoring the club owner's behaviour towards Seeal. However, upon arriving at the club and being told that all of their party had free entry and drinks due to Seeal having identified a criminal in the club the last time they were here, Madesh had discovered that Myrtle wasn't in the club this evening. To be certain, Madesh had asked a security guard if he knew when Myrtle would be returning, making it seem like they simply wanted to thank the ex-Elite owner for their free drinks, and the guard had replied that Myrtle wouldn't be back for several days. Nothing but truthful disinterest had lingered around the guard, so it meant that Madesh did not have to worry about his mission this evening after all.

Which is why he had felt happy to leave Seeal with the rest of their 'Strays' group and head up to the washrooms alone. And yet, it was when he was by himself like this that the old habits kicked in more than usual. When with his new friends, he naturally felt more confident and safe, but, when alone and unprotected, the old fears always returned.

As he moved around a particularly busy table of club customers, he realised that his eyes were now completely lowered to the dark carpet under his boots as he made his way around the loud group. Honoured Elite Oneakka would not be pleased with him for such behaviour.

'Head up, shoulders back, and eyes forward' had been Honoured Elite Oneakka's constant instruction in the first months of Madesh's training. Repeating it to himself now, Madesh forced his eyes up from the floor, pulled his shoulders back, and looked forward as he headed towards the stairs that would take him back down to his friends.

'Feel the weight of your body. Occupy your space' Honoured Elite Oneakka's further repeated instructions played in Madesh's mind. He worked to let his shoulders relax and forced himself to keep his chin up and his eyes forward. He needed to walk like Honoured Elite Oneakka: confidently and believing in his skills.

It remained an active effort though as Madesh descended the stairs, but he could feel the subtle return of the confidence that Honoured Elite Oneakka had helped install in him during their training sessions.

'You do not live in the past. The past doesn't matter', Honoured Elite Oneakka had repeated to him. 'What you do now matters'.

That those instructions had been delivered whilst they had been sparring had imprinted the words very forcefully into Madesh's being, and he constantly replayed them to himself. The Mind Healers he had been meeting with every week since he'd recovered from Iketani' bullet, had repeated the same. That the past was unchangeable and that he had to focus on who he was outside of the abuse he'd been victim to throughout his life. That he could learn to move on from the shame he felt about his former actions and the truths of people's souls that he'd been forced to reveal by violent hands.

Still, he suspected that the shame would never go away. But, with Honoured Elite Nalla's help, he had begun to rewrite his own relationship with his gift. As a powerful Pelydrian empath, Honoured Elite Nalla truly understood the realities of having access to people's most intimate feelings and sense of self. Through her guidance, he had drawn up his own personal honour code, setting boundaries of what and when he would share what he sensed in those he read. The Elite had requested he read a great deal of people following the discovery of the spy and embezzler on the Sythus, but they had only ever asked him to confirm whether the crew were guilty or innocent of similar things. He had not been asked for more intimate detail than that, and Honoured Elite Nalla had helped him draw up an agreement with the Elite that officially set out his new honour code and detailed the few exceptions when he would breach it, such as when there was a risk to life. Madesh had felt desperately nervous when the agreement had been officially presented to the Elite, feeling the old nervous fear of oppressors even though Honoured Elite Nalla had drafted it with him, but within a day the answer came back that the Elite agreed to his terms. And so his life had become what it was now, he was a full crewmember of the Sythus working for the Elite and the betterment of the galaxy.

And his chance to redeem his debts of shame.

As he stepped down off the last step and onto the ground floor of Myrtle's, he let out a breath, feeling more confident for certain now. Especially as his friends were now in sight. He headed towards the table beside the dance floor and noticed that nothing had changed since he'd left for the washroom. Toj was still missing, no doubt off flirting with all the women in the club, Fleta and Numfar were sat on the far side of the table and were loudly teasing each other over the low background music. On the left side of the table sat the ever friendly and intelligent Nevaeh, who was talking with the new member of their group this evening, Inifee. Madesh liked Inifee, the pilot being very gentle and kind in his nature, so that just sitting near him made Madesh feel calmer, which was especially helpful as Inifee had been helping update his piloting skills. With the Sythus still in repair dock, all the crew were updating their qualifications and there had been daily practice drills. Rumours were that the Sythus' repair work was almost entirely complete and soon enough they would be deployed. Which made this evening's outing all the more important, for it was the first time in awhile that they had all been out together and perhaps the last for some time.

Madesh would be grateful for the opportunity for the mission ahead of them, whatever it was going to be, but he felt a little sad too as it would mean that he would be away from his closest, though perhaps strangest, of friends. As he sat back down in his chair, Madesh looked to Seeal sat on his right. They were perhaps not the most likely of friends, for where he was quiet and withdrawn, she was argumentative and outgoing, but their friendship was oddly easy and comfortable. He had made it clear to her from the start that he felt no romantic attraction towards hers, to which she had simply shrugged and told him the same. It was always that way with her, she said what was on her mind and, though jarring for many, he found it wonderfully relaxing to be around. There was also something reassuring in knowing that Seeal was rather like him, in that they had both led less than perfect lives until now and were now working to redeem themselves.

Plus, she was funny.

She made him laugh almost every day, and somehow he did the same with her. He had not considered himself funny before, being too cautious and contained to be that way, but he found it strangely easy to make her smile. She had told him more than once that the fact that they were so different to each other meant that just being themselves made the other laugh, and he had to agree there was some wisdom in that.

He was going to miss her so much when the Sythus left. He wondered if she would feel left behind when they all left on the mission without her.

As he sat back his chair, he focused on her face and decided that clearly this evening was not the time to ask such questions. She was not in a happy mood, but he hadn't had time alone with her yet to find out what was wrong. Clearly Ru had been trying to find out while Madesh had been away from the table, the engineer, clearly happy to be able to join them this evening, had been chatting away to Seeal since they'd all arrived at the table. However, Seeal was just as Madesh had left her, sat back in her chair, focused singly on her tall glass as she used the wooden stirring stick to stab at the pieces of fruit in the glass. Madesh didn't need his gift to see that she was stewing angrily over something.

Ru glanced at Madesh, a worried look creasing his expression as he said something else to Seeal, but there was no evidence that she was even aware of Ru talking to her.

It was overly obvious to everyone among their group that Ru had a substantial crush on Seeal, but that Seeal appeared completely oblivious of the fact. The rest of the Strays found it a subject of serious amusement, but no one outwardly teased Ru or Seeal about it. They said they didn't want to get involved and they weren't sure if Seeal would in fact return some interest if Ru ever built up the courage to properly convey his interest, but Madesh knew that they were in fact unwilling to upset Seeal. Seeal was honestly likely by the group, but they held a healthy respect for her.

Madesh though, thanks to his gift, knew for certain that Seeal was indeed unaware of Ru' affection and, quite frankly, hadn't appeared to even consider Ru in that light. In keeping with his new honour code, Madesh would never disclose that to either party or the rest of the Strays, but the ongoing dynamic remained a somewhat amusing thing to watch. Ru was currently looking worriedly at Seeal, chewing on his lower lip and clearly wishing he could be the answer to whatever problem Seeal was dealing with today.

Some days, Madesh could see that Ru was building the courage to express his interest in Seeal, but clearly it wouldn't be tonight; which was fortunate, because Madesh felt quite conflicted about the possibility and it presented one of the first true challenges to his new honour code. For, if Ru were to express his interest and actively pursue Seeal, then there was the real possibility that it would bring him in direct conflict with Honoured Elite Oneakka. Madesh was mostly certain that Honoured Elite Oneakka wouldn't hurt Ru, as he would never hurt an innocent, but coming into conflict with the powerful and infamous warrior would not bode well for Ru. The urge to warn Ru was a strong compulsion and teetered along the edge of the 'reveal if there is risk to life' part of the honour code, but Madesh had held off.

It was not his place to involve himself in such things, especially as there were no promises or intents between Seeal and Honoured Elite Oneakka. Though certain affections were very clear to Madesh, it did not give him the right to mention that private information to anyone else, even if it would help warn Ru. Besides, Honoured Elite Oneakka's attention was purely focused on his recovery and return to battle, and the affection he felt for Seeal seemed to be very much pushed aside.

Looking into Honoured Elite Oneakka's eyes and glimpsing what his gift had provided had been the most fascinating experience for Madesh. He'd never met anyone with such focus and will as Honoured Elite Oneakka. In his mind's eye, the gift had provided the imagery of the powerful warrior moving through chaos, fire, screams, and all manner of sounds and feelings that he'd lived through, but Honoured Elite Oneakka remained at the centre, striding through with single undisturbed focus. Despite all the horrors that the mighty warrior had faced, he could remain focused in a way that was almost superhuman. Madesh remained in awe of such skill, it being so different to his own path through life.

Yet, what worried Madesh, was if Ru were to become the focus of Honoured Elite Oneakka's disapproval. Even if the mighty warrior did not harm the engineer physically, there were still emotional dangers and the risk to the man's career. However, given that the Sythus would be leaving soon, taking Ru and the rest of the Strays away from Seeal, Madesh hoped that the problem would not occur any time soon.

What was very clear today was that Ru was not going to get through to Seeal to find out what was bothering her so badly, so Madesh would find out. He gave Ru a 'let me handle this' gesture and leaned towards Seeal's closest shoulder, through which she remained solely occupied by her fruit stabbing.

"Seeal?" He called louder than was strictly necessary and she jerked dramatically, looking round at him with a shocked glare.

"What?" She asked back.

"We should get some more drinks for everyone," he suggested.

She frowned down at her glass that was mostly empty, outside of the long stick speared with fruit, and then at the mostly empty glasses across the shared table. Her dark eyes returned to meet his with a faint frown that said she suspected his real motives.

"Fine," she agreed though as she leaned forward and set her glass on the table. "What does everyone want?" She asked the table.

A series of responses were greeted by her nods as she easily memorised the list as she stood up.

Madesh hadn't been able to hold the names of all the drinks, so he let her cover that and stepped away from the table, waiting for her. The orders gathered, she headed past him, leading the way in her dominant manner across the dance floor and through the space between the booths that ran under the overhanging mezzanine levels above. He followed her, though found his gaze shifting quickly around again, assessing the military visitors sat around the booths, once again seeking out the biggest and most threatening among them. Of course there were no threats, though he noticed quite a few appreciative male glances towards Seeal as she walked by them. Madesh suspected that her manner of walking, with her shoulders tall and wide yet relaxed, made her appear to be fellow military. Though, her grumpy glare and fast stride clearly put off any admirers approaching her this evening. She always shrugged off such advances anyway.

Heading out from the booths, they reached the second dance floor that overlooked the bar, but there were no dancers here yet, and most of the customers this side of the club were stood around the busy bar. Madesh didn't doubt that once the band arrived, that the place would be full. Though, he noticed that there was some movement up on the low stage at the far end of the dance floor, probably preparations for the live performance. He glanced forward again to see that Seeal had already reached the bar and had found a small wedge of space within the crowd stood waiting for one of the overworked bartenders to reach them.

Madesh shifted in near her, knowing she didn't mind him standing close to her. She had set her elbow into a tiny free space available on the bar top between the other customers on either side of her, and she sighed heavily.

"What's wrong?" He asked her directly.

"I'm fine," she clearly lied, her dark eyes shifting away to the hardworking bartenders.

"You seem angry," he tried, not needing to lift his voice too much here with no music playing near the bar.

"Well, that's because I _am_ angry, but it's _his_ damn fault," her reluctance to talk collapsed in a rush.

Ah, if it was a man that had upset her, then there was one usual culprit. "Honoured Elite Oneakka?" Madesh checked.

"Honoured?" She scoffed disrespectfully, but he knew she didn't truly mean it. Her respect and affection for Honoured Elite Oneakka was obvious to him, though his gift told him that she struggled with it. He wasn't sure how far to push for further information though, after all he did not want to tread into any personal matters between her and Honoured Elite Oneakka. But she seemed clearly upset, so he decided to follow Honoured Elite Oneakka's example and stayed quiet, waiting for her to supply more.

"He's an idiot," she stated next. "A _rude_ idiot." She was angrily glaring now. "You know, he wouldn't dare say anything like that to Halling or Massa."

"_Honoured Elite_ Halling," Madesh corrected for her quietly. "_Honoured Elite_ Massa."

"It's because I'm _female_," she stated, well into the flow of her argument now and requiring no responses from him.

However, the reference to her gender was a very new element to her arguments with Honoured Elite Oneakka. As far as Madesh had seen, Honoured Elite Oneakka had never been prejudicial towards women, as he demanded the highest standards from everyone alike.

"They fuss around him _far_ more than me," she insisted. "You should see them. 'Yes, Oneakka, whatever you want, Oneakka'," she mimicked.

"_Honoured Elite_ Oneakka," Madesh whispered while trying not to smile at her comical impression.

"It's because I stand up to him and he's all vulnerable and freaking out."

Madesh frowned. He wasn't entirely sure he was following the explanation now, and 'freaking out' was not a description he would ever attribute to Honoured Elite Oneakka. "He is freaking out about what?" He asked.

"About dust, apparently," she replied.

"Dust?" He asked doubtfully. Surely he had misheard.

"All sensitive about it," she muttered.

"Sensitive?" Madesh repeated the next unexpected word. He struggled to conceive of Honoured Elite Oneakka being sensitive about anything.

"He has no right to use _that_ word," she continued, "Just because I'm female and cleaning up dust!"

So it had been a single word that had upset her. Had perhaps Honoured Elite Oneakka sworn at her? Though, Madesh couldn't imagine Seeal getting so upset about something like that, given the kind of language that had been used against her throughout her life. He had seen people use very bad language around her in previous clubs, but it had never fazed her before. It must surely have been a very nasty word to have gotten to her this much.

"What word?" Madesh asked curiously, wondering if she would even be able to repeat it.

"I'm not some domesticated weakling. I'm not helping him _anymore_," she stormed on though. "You try to help someone and they just turn on you. Cuddly Bear of Moor my backside. He's the worst kind of speckled ice that man."

Madesh frowned at that, not entirely sure what that meant, but she often started to refer to ice and snow analogies when she was emotional. It was presumably a Glisi thing. "Speckled ice?" He asked.

She glanced round. "What?"

"What's speckled ice?" He asked, trying not to find the discussion a little amusing now.

She blinked as if she hadn't realised she'd used the phrase. "It's how frozen water can look and you can't tell how thick the ice is as you move across it. Can't tell if it's cracked through and is going to suddenly break under you and plunge you into cold icy water where nasty things could be swimming," she explained.

That definitely didn't sound safe at all. "So Honoured Elite Oneakka is unpredictable of late?" He interpreted the description.

"Huh! Unpredictable? He's all smiling one minute and then insulting you for cleaning up dust the next."

Smiling?

"Well I agree that it is very unfair for him to insult you for cleaning up dust," he agreed.

"I'm no one's _wife_!" She stated angry again.

The conversation had taken an unexpected turn there.

"I helped bring down one of the hardest, stupidest, most violent gangs on Myas," she stated loudly as she jabbed one finger hard against her slither of bar top. The customers leaning against the bar on either side of her noticeably shifted a little further away from her.

"I once fought for two hours in a pit fight," she continued. "It was the longest fight ever on record and I had to break both her hands in the end to win, so no one will _ever_ tell me that I'm a dust cleaning up wife!"

Ah. Now he understood.

He wasn't entirely sure of the situation during the 'argument', but Honoured Elite Oneakka had indeed found a very effective insult to use against Seeal. Still, Madesh wondered if the term was a little telling of itself, as was Seeal's especial emotional reaction to it.

"Of course you are not," Madesh confirmed firmly for her. "No dust would stand a chance against you."

She snapped her eyes to him with a frown.

"No fleck of dirt could ever stop you," he continued and her frown slid into the start of a faint smile.

"I imagine that whatever room it was that you cleared of dust will never even _conceive_ of gathering more dust again in its lifetime," he pushed on, feeling her mood start to shift.

She rolled her eyes and looked away, but she was smiling, albeit reluctantly.

She looked back round. "Don't you dare tell me I'm overreacting," she threatened, but it was actually a question.

He smiled at her. "That would place me on speckled ice," he replied.

Her smile reached her eyes before she rolled them again and then glanced down the length of the bar, checking for the progress of the bartender, but he saw her let out a calmer sigh. And in that sigh, he saw the anger slip away and the true anxious hurt beneath ripple to the surface.

He waited for her to process it and look back round at him, and as she did, her eyes met his and held directly, allowing his gift to fully trigger. In his mind, the flashing image echoed of Seeal stood proud, alone, and defiant in the snowy forest of her people.

He blinked and the flecks of falling snow disappeared, leaving her stood once again in the club. But, though the thick pelts to keep out the freezing cold were now her figure hugging clothes, and the hunting bow across her back was her dark hair lying across her shoulder, she remained the same.

"I can assure you, my friend," Madesh told her seriously, "that of all the women, in all the galaxy, you are the _last_ that would be considered tamed of your wild nature."

Her eyebrows lifted, clearly taken back by his words. It wasn't unusual for people to react that way when he told them something related to what his gift had shown him, but she was rarely one to be shocked by anything.

The shock didn't last long though as she considered his words. "Wild nature?" She repeated thoughtfully. "I like that," she smiled.

Of course she would.

"Good," he smiled back. "Do you think you can try to enjoy yourself now?"

"I always enjoy being around you," she told him matter-of-factly.

Madesh grinned, happy he had been able to help her feel better, but that she too valued their friendship so highly. Though, he mused, had she said the same to Ru then the poor man would probably pass out from delight.

Space had opened up along the bar to Seeal's right and a bartender stepped up to take her order. As Seeal relayed the list of drinks, the bartender speedily tapping in the order into an electronic pad, Madesh stepped up next to her, settling his forearms on the cool bar top. The order relayed, the bartender began hurriedly preparing drinks and Seeal looked round.

"Thank you for listening," she told him.

"Any time, my friend," Madesh assured her. He really was going to miss her when the Sythus left.

"But I'm still not forgiving the big Elite oaf," she added though, looking back to the growing collection of drinks.

"_Honoured_ Elite oaf," Madesh replied, regretting the insult to Honoured Elite Oneakka, but Seeal's responding laugh was worth it.

00000

John was vaguely aware of the courtyard still, of the warmth of the sun and the soft delicate breeze gently shifting the plant leaves around him, but his mind drifted. Dozing in the sun was something he hadn't done in awhile and it was real peaceful here in Chaya's home. If a temple courtyard could be considered a home.

He'd had tons of 'homes' he'd not really thought of that way: barracks, tents, and foxholes in the sand. And there had been Antarctica.

The sunlight against is closed eyes, he vividly remembered flying a chopper low over the snow, the blades casting dramatic shadows over the icy ground. It felt like an age since he'd flown like that, alone and totally focused to control any tiny movement of his body. It wasn't like that with a Jumper, which was almost effortless. But, as easy as flying a Jumper was, he missed the physical rush of controlling a chopper or the overwhelming Gs in a fighter.

Somewhere a bird called and the ice slid away as John blinked his eyes open and lifted his chin from his hand. Straightening up on the bench, he felt his back crack slightly, easing tension, and he looked at his watch. It was almost time to give up. Colonel Carter had given him two hours and it was almost time to go.

He headed out from the little sitting nook and peered around the rest of the courtyard. "Chaya?" He called out, his voice faintly echoing against the stone walls.

But there was still nothing.

He held still, listening closely, but there was just that bird singing somewhere and the warm sunshine.

Moving around the courtyard, he checked every corner again, but nothing had changed since he'd gotten here. If she'd been here while he'd been dozing, he was pretty sure he'd have heard her. Though she was an Ancient, so she could probably move around quietly in that big bright cloud she became.

He turned on the spot.

It wasn't like she had a schedule he could fit himself into, so maybe she just wasn't here. Maybe she was off on some distant part of Proculus and didn't even know he was visiting. Or she was off in whatever place the Ancients had ascended to?

Or, maybe, she just didn't want to see him...

Maybe she knew about Teyla and why he was here.

Perhaps Colonel Carter and the General were right and she wasn't allowed to tell him anything so she was just not showing up.

"Chaya?" He called out. "Please can we talk?" He turned on the spot, looking up at the open air above the courtyard, the glorious summer's day overhead. It was always a nice summer's day when he visited. He stared up at the beautiful sky, wondering if it took her a lot of effort to always make that happen. If you could control the weather, what was meeting up with an ex who had moved on with a new Elite wife?

His watch bleeped that his time was up.

"I've gotta go," John said to the empty air. If she really wasn't here or was maybe still thinking about showing herself, it would be worth him coming back again. "I'll come back in a few days," he decided, "see if you're here." He felt a little stupid talking to nothing, but maybe if he was persistent...

He headed for the way out of the yard. "I'll see you soon," he called into the open space.

As he reached the archway, a soft breeze stirred behind him, loose soil dancing around his boots and tickling up through his hair. He turned quickly, the air moving over him, but there was still nothing to see.

Just her courtyard and the ridiculously tall and healthy plants.

For a second though, he could almost believe that she was there, just out of reach...or maybe it was just his hopeful imagination.

00000  
TBC


	25. Broken Promises

**Note:** Hello all, I thought I would release a second chapter for this week. After a long weekend of autumnal stormy rain and winds, I have taken advantage of the cosy wintery feel and been wrapped up inside editing this fic. So let's start on Day 22 of the story...

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**DAY 22 – Challenge**

**Chapter 25 – Broken Promises**

Halling wasn't too sure what had happened between yesterday and today, but Oneakka's mood had shifted quite dramatically, though, unfortunately, predictably. Gone was the more compliant and sleepy version of Oneakka that had been keeping to his limits, and instead he had returned to more usual difficult form.

From the moment Halling had arrived to take over the shift from Massa it had been clear that Oneakka was feeling very driven today. He'd already been working on his stretches and upper arm workout on the bed, well before the Physical Therapist had been due to arrive. Massa had reported that Oneakka had slept really well, having slept almost entirely through the night, which, unfortunately, had not been the case for Aki. Massa had looked exhausted, which had been in sharp comparison to Oneakka's repeated and focused exercises.

Halling had slept well himself last night, though more from mental exhaustion than anything else. Yesterday's links conference with the Fleet Commanders had run on long, but had resulted in a set plan which was being actioned today. Five small groups of Fleet ships were being deployed to scout out the top five pieces of intel that Halling and his team had identified as the best chances of locating the Skerti. However, reaching that point had required long discussions of the intel, detailed examinations of the Fleet ship manifests, studying of the latest scan data, and then debating the deployment size and the ships to be used. However, it had been worth the effort and a plan was finally being enacted.

After that long afternoon, Halling had finally been able to turn his attention to the report that Atlantis had sent through concerning their mythical vampires. His team had already begun reading through the Atlantis report while he had still been in the links conference, and when he had walked into the analysis room, the place had been filled with hopeful excitement. After weeks of intense study and no action, now his team had the Fleet scouting for them and some fascinating possible new intel from Atlantis. Despite his tiredness, Halling had sat down to join in the research. It had taken a further two dials back to Atlantis to ensure that the translation of the report was correctly understood, and Atlantis had sent through samples of a plant bulb that was, at least in Earth tradition, supposedly dangerous to vampires. Pieces of bulb had been forwarded on to the Mad Moon for testing, and Halling had ensured that Imseti had been provided a copy of the Atlantis Vampire report. After hours of more study, Halling had finally dismissed his team for the night and had all but passed out in his own bed.

Despite a good night's sleep, Halling was feeling the effects of yesterday's high workload. Perhaps it was also that today presented the culmination of so many weeks of work on researching the Skerti that it was understandable that he felt so tired. Sitting next to Oneakka's rapid exercises with long resistant ropes and his excessively long list of questions about the Atlantis report, had not helped a great deal.

Fortunately, the Physical Therapist had arrived and had set about helping Oneakka out of his bed for his rehabilitation exercises. That had given Halling the opportunity to strip the bedding off Oneakka's bed and replace it with a fresh clean set. Oneakka had complained that it wasn't necessary as he slowly and carefully walked around the edge of the room with the Therapist's help, but Halling had ignored the complaints. He and Massa had set out a schedule between them to ensure that Oneakka's bedding was replaced and washed regularly, that the washroom was cleaned, and, following a text link message from Seeal yesterday, that the shelves and tables were also dusted and clean.

The physical task of cleaning the washroom had actually been helpful for Halling, since most of yesterday had been intellectual discussions and reading. However, it was very clear from the Physical Therapist's repeated comments across the room that Oneakka had returned to form in pushing himself well beyond his current limits. Halling had attempted to help by backing up the Therapist's requests that Oneakka stop the multitude of extra reps for each exercise, but he had been greeted by a Cuddly Bear of Moor stern comment that Oneakka knew his own limits. Halling had held back from saying anything further despite the fact that he had a lifetime of evidence that Oneakka did in fact _not_ always know his limits. Though, admittedly, Oneakka did appear to be that little bit stronger today, still the fact that he needed help to stand up and walk should remind Oneakka that he was far from his normal stamina and strength. Watching Oneakka today, it was as if the man had forgotten the damage to his body and the effort it was taking him just to remain standing with help.

Once the therapy session had concluded, Halling had set about helping Oneakka into the washroom and showered. The excessive workout had already started showing though, as Oneakka's arms and legs had been shaking with noticeable muscle fatigue as he worked to hold himself up in the shower, but Halling had said nothing except maintain his running commentary on the information in the Atlantis Vampire report. Any comment he made about Oneakka pushing himself today would clearly only be greeted with a snapping angry reply and, given how he was feeling, Halling suspected he would likely snap back today. So he just focused on helping Oneakka wash, get dressed in fresh clean clothes, and back to the bed. Fortunately, within minutes of being back in his newly made and comfortable bed, Oneakka had fallen asleep. And so, with the comfortable background sounds of his friend's sleeping breathing, Halling had been afforded some quiet relaxing time in peace.

Occasionally his pad updated with the latest report on the deployment, detailing slight changes of crew and timings of departure for each group. The Sythus remained a few weeks shy of being ready for battle, but the Hastos Son was among the scouting groups and had been one of the first groups to deploy this morning.

Teyla had dropped by briefly, but had not stayed long, not wanting to disturb Oneakka's nap. She had been on her way to the Military Council meeting and would be relaying the very latest on the scouting deployment, and she had appeared bright and cheerful. Next Meiyo had arrived, but, again, had not stayed long beyond leaving a new jug of nutritional tonic for Oneakka and delivering the day's latest batch of medications. The Healer had checked the report that the Physical Therapist had left following the morning session and Halling had seen the Healer's faint frown and raised eyebrow. Halling had simply nodded to her over Oneakka's sleeping form: the Cuddly Bear of Moor was in full force. Meiyo had whispered good luck to him and left, but she remained pleased with Oneakka's progress. As difficult and stubborn as Oneakka could be in his recovery, it still remained remarkable.

The next hour had passed in comfortable silence as Oneakka had continued in his deep sleep. Halling had noticed the dusting cloth on the side table, so he had set about dusting the top of the headboard and Oneakka's Ugun statue that looked down upon him and his quarters. Halling then checked through Oneakka's chest of drawers, ensuring that Oneakka's clothes that he had sent for washing yesterday had been returned. Everything was in place, Massa no doubt having been the one to return all the clean folded clothes into the drawers. Everything was tidy and clean, and Halling had sat back down with a deep sense of satisfaction. The tiredness had drifted away and, as the last confirmation of scouting deployment had arrived, a sense of relieved success settled over him. He also had the afternoon off rotation and considered that he might do something different today. Perhaps visit Athos. Teyla had reported that the snows were particularly crisp and deep this winter, and Halling had always enjoyed the freshness of the Athosian air on such days. He checked into the database and called up the marketing information on Athos. The winter festival wasn't for another month, but Tjaru's trading hours would fit with his afternoon off.

Oneakka stirred awake with a sudden grunt, and Halling looked up from his pad to see his friend blink rapidly around the room.

"Tea?" Halling offered as he reached for the sealed heated jug he had brought with him. He'd gotten good at judging how much to fill it to cover his shifts and, since this particular tea was calming, it was always a good drink for Oneakka.

"Hmm," Oneakka grunted a confirmation as he worked to shift himself back up against his pillows. Halling set about pouring some tea for Oneakka and topped up his own. "News on the deployment?" Oneakka asked as he worked awkwardly to try and plump up the pillows behind him by punching his fists into them behind his back.

"All scouting parties have been deployed," Halling reported with a smile as he held out the tea for Oneakka.

"Thank you," Oneakka replied good-naturedly as he took the cup, though he was still looking a little bleary from his long sleep. "Seifer on the Hastos Son?"

"No, he assigned himself to accompany the Satedan led scouting party," Halling replied as he sipped his tea and glanced across at Oneakka's timekeeping display. Seeal was due soon for her shift, so he had plenty of time for his midday meal with Massa and then could head to Athos this afternoon.

"Good," Oneakka muttered.

"You had a good sleep," Halling smiled at him. "Teyla and Meiyo both dropped by, but didn't want to disturb you."

Oneakka nodded, his eyes shifting to the nutrition tonic and away. "Emmagan on the Military Council today?"

"Yes," Halling confirmed as he set down his tea and reached for Oneakka's medication pot which contained all the measured out tablets for his next dose. "I suggest you take your medication now with the tea and then use the washroom before Seeal gets here for her shift."

"She's not coming," Oneakka responded.

Halling looked up from opening the medication pot. "What?" She hadn't said anything to him about moving her shift. She was always very communicative about any changes she needed to make.

"She's not coming," Oneakka repeated slowly and more loudly as if Halling had simply not heard him.

"Does she have a hangover from last night at Myrtle's?" Halling joked.

Oneakka's brow lowered a fraction. "How should I know?" The comment had been delivered with a definite grumpy tone, the Cuddly Bear mood having suddenly returned with a vengeance.

Halling frowned at the confusing comment though. "Is she getting here later than planned then?"

"She's not coming at all," Oneakka stated as he looked away, drawing his deep blue blanket further up over his legs and middle.

Halling considered Oneakka's profile closely, sensing that there was something Oneakka didn't want to talk about and, if it meant that Seeal wasn't going to be covering her shift, then it had to have been something significant. "What did you do?" Halling asked.

Oneakka snapped his head round with a frowning glare. "Why do you assume I did anything?" He demanded. "It was _her_ fault."

"Right," Halling considered doubtfully. Considering Oneakka's mood, Halling had little doubt as to who had started the latest argument.

Oneakka glared, his blue eyes piercing. "Why are you suddenly always on _her_ side? When did you two become best of friends all of a sudden?" The question sounded quite bitter to Halling's ears.

"She saved my life," Halling replied honestly.

"I've saved your life plenty," Oneakka muttered as he looked away.

"And she helped me save _you_," Halling continued. "She might have made mistakes in her past, but she and I have grown close since you were hurt."

Oneakka's blue gaze shifted back sharply.

"Not _that_ close," Halling added quickly. "I have _no_ romantic interest in Seeal," he clarified.

"Why should I care if you did?" Oneakka responded instantly, his gaze hard and level.

"I'm just making it clear," Halling explained, using a slow and calm tone as he returned his attention to drawing out the medication from the pot. He loved Oneakka dearly, but on days like this, he was grateful that his shift was going to end soon. Though, if Seeal wasn't going to show up then-

"I'm only having half today," Oneakka stated, cutting through Halling's thoughts.

"Half?" Halling frowned.

"Half of the meds."

Halling willed patience. "Did Meiyo agree to this?" He asked, knowing full well that she had done no such thing.

"No," Oneakka hit back, his tone uncompromising.

He did this every time!

"You agreed to keep to your medication plan," Halling tried to reason with him. "Meiyo only agreed to let you discharge yourself back here to your quarters as long as you agreed to stick with the medication plan this time."

"I have stuck with it, until now. Now, I'm changing it. It's _my_ medication plan, I wrote it."

Halling struggled not to show the annoyance raging up in his middle. "You told us you would keep to the original plan."

"Now I'm changing it," Oneakka argued, his glare angry.

"Why?" Halling asked.

"It's too sedating," Oneakka explained all too simply.

"You need this level of pain relief and inflammation reduction for a reason, especially now that you are advancing in your physical therapy and pushing yourself too hard. Now is _not_ the time to start lowering your medication so abruptly."

"I've done it before."

"The last time was just a broken collarbone, this is very different. And you know in the past you've reduced your medication too quickly and really paid for it," Halling tried to use logic, even though such arguments had never worked before.

"If Seeal's not sitting with me, is someone else covering her shift?" Oneakka bluntly changed the subject.

Halling sighed heavily, silently praying to the Ancestors. It was always something involving Oneakka that led him to resort to prayers.

"Maybe if you apologise to her-" Halling suggested.

"_She_ should apologise to _me_," Oneakka argued hotly.

"Look, Oneakka, I know you don't want to talk about this subject, but if you want to remain close to Seeal then you're going to have to learn to-"

"I have arguments with _friends_ all the time," Oneakka cut in, "I'm having one right now."

"Sometimes suppressed feelings can make people act out-" Halling decided to push.

"There's nothing about me that's suppressed," Oneakka interrupted yet again. "This isn't some youthful crush that I'm hiding like Nalla and you. Seeal is a _friend_ and _nothing_ more."

Halling froze, replaying the sentence. "Nalla and me?" He asked, confused.

Oneakka's eyes abruptly went wide. "What?"

What was Oneakka talking about? Nalla and him?

"What do you mean Nalla and me?" Halling asked.

"Why, what did I say?" Oneakka asked, but he looked shocked and it sounded like a delaying tactic. "I'm on a lot of medication," he added, "which is one of the reasons why I'm going to reduce the meds." He looked down at Halling's hands holding the medication pot. "Just half today."

Halling frowned at him. "What did you mean, Oneakka?"

Oneakka clenched his jaw, the movement obvious as he sat back against his pillows and he eventually met Halling's eyes. "Nothing," he concluded. "Just a...you were getting annoying about Seeal."

Halling considered his friend. Oneakka looked...guilty and was sort of wincing like he'd made a mistake. What was going on? "Oneakka?" He asked seriously.

Oneakka glanced away and swore quietly to himself before he looked back. "We all kind of assumed you'd known, but I promised Nalla never to say anything."

"Say anything?" Halling asked, still confused. Oneakka had been referencing a youthful crush... "Nalla doesn't have feelings for me," he pointed out. "Does she?"

"Well, probably not _now_," Oneakka replied.

"Now?"

"It was a long time ago," Oneakka shrugged.

"When?" Halling pushed.

"Years, since when you were both Recruits together."

"What?" Halling asked. "Are you saying Nalla was attracted to me when we were teenagers?"

"Yes and for years afterwards," Oneakka finally confirmed. "And everyone knew it and we all just assumed you knew."

Halling blinked away from Oneakka, straining back through memories. He and Nalla had been in the same training year and been friends, but never anything more. As a Pelydrian her lifespan ran differently to most, so though she had technically been about the same biological development age as him when she had joined as a Recruit, she had actually been at least ten years senior to everyone else. She had always been more mature and considerate than the rest of their fellow training year, and they had become easy friends, but she had always seemed so much wiser and ethereal than everyone else. In the years since, they had been on numerous missions together and had both been assigned to the Sythus together, but he'd seen no hint at all that she felt more than friendship towards him.

"She's never said anything," he was certain of it.

"Well, no," Oneakka replied like it was obvious. "She's an empath; she knows you don't feel the same."

Halling frowned at Oneakka. That was true so...which meant that...had he inadvertently been causing his friend harm all these years by his ignorance of her romantic care for him? But then surely he would have known...

Nalla?

He had never even considered Nalla in such a way.

"Now you see why I need half the medication," Oneakka cut into Halling's distracted thoughts.

Halling drew his focus together to deal with one problem at a time. "Because you start telling people the truth all of a sudden?"

"Don't go blaming me because _you_ didn't see what was obvious to everybody else back then," Oneakka snapped.

"Like everyone can see the obvious about you and Seeal?" He retaliated without thinking.

"There's no Seeal and me," Oneakka agued back. "Just because two people argue all the time doesn't mean they're a couple. Otherwise Seifer would have married the goat!"

Halling snorted out a laugh at that comparison and shook his head at the bizarre conversation.

Nalla?

How had he not seen the truth? He felt like he had been hit on the head or something, his world view strangely altered by Oneakka's inadvertent truth telling.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Nalla," Oneakka suddenly apologised, surprising Halling yet again. "I honestly thought you had an inkling."

"Inkling?" Halling smiled at the word.

Oneakka looked at him apologetically, the faint Mohawk hairstyle shunted Halling's perceptions back to all those years ago when they had all been so much younger, when sex and romance had been such an important part of Recruit life. Back when life had been about training, exams, parties and flirting. All before graduation and the realities of Elite life had hit. Yet, looking at his friend now, Halling was reminded that he and Oneakka were actually years apart, in fact the same distance in years as there was between him and Nalla. Some days he forgot the extra decade he had lived compared to Oneakka, Massa and Teyla, though with each injury and recovery he was always reminded. Today though, Oneakka looked oddly younger than usual, or perhaps it was simply the return of the Mohawk that created that nostalgic feeling of youth. Still, the regret of a broken secret was obvious on Oneakka's face.

"You promised Nalla you wouldn't tell me," Halling forgave him. "I know you keep your word when you give it."

"She'll know now that I told you," Oneakka reasoned. "Make sure you tell her it was the medication that made me tell you. Medication that I need to halve."

"No, Oneakka," Halling stressed, "you need to keep to the medication plan."

The door to Oneakka's quarters abruptly slid open and Halling looked round as Seeal walked in, right on time for her shift.

A brief glance at Oneakka confirmed that he was equally shocked at her arrival.

However, it was immediately obvious that things were not normal, as Seeal fixed her gaze directly on Halling, not even glancing towards Oneakka. "Hello, Halling," she greeted him and him alone.

Halling decided it was going to be very important that he handle this situation carefully.

"Good day, Seeal," Halling greeted her as she headed towards him, still steadfastly not looking at Oneakka. "We weren't sure if you would be here."

"I'm here," she replied with a rather strained, almost sarcastic smile. "But I'm not talking to him."

"That'll be a relief then," Oneakka muttered.

Seeal kept her eyes on Halling. "Anything I need to know about the stubborn oaf today?"

It was actually a very relevant insult and Halling realised that she might be able to help. She had, up until today at least, been able to persuade Oneakka to agree to things that he and Massa had struggled.

"Your timing is perfect actually," he told her. "He is refusing to keep to his medication plan."

"What?!" Seeal asked Oneakka, immediately abandoning her stance not to look or talk to him.

"He wants to halve the medication," Halling explained further.

"But you wrote the medication plan," she stated to Oneakka.

"Talking to me now?" Oneakka asked her just to be difficult.

"Why would you want to change your meds?" Seeal asked him, quite aggressively too. Clearly whatever argument the two had had yesterday had been no small matter.

"Because it's _my_ medication plan and I can change it however I like," Oneakka stubbornly answered up at her, his arms crossed and his chin high as she towered over him.

"But you came up with the plan. Surely there's a good reason why you need that dosage of meds now," Seeal logically argued with him.

"I've changed my mind," he stated.

"Disagreeing with your own plan, means you're disagreeing with yourself," Seeal pointed out.

Halling watched Oneakka frown faintly as he worked that through his head, perhaps made faintly harder by the aforementioned medication's sedating edge.

"I'm overriding my past decision, because right now, I know it's the right thing to do," Oneakka decided, with surprising clarity considering the possible medication fog.

"No, it's _not_ the right thing to do," Seeal stated at him with far more force than anyone else would use against Oneakka. "I've read up on this whole 'Elite write their own medication plan' rubbish, and the whole point of coming up with your medication plans ahead of time is so that you make the decisions with a clear head, with scientific reasoning in front of you and discussing it with the Healers, so that the plan is in place for when you are too sick and vulnerable to be able to tell what's right for you."

Halling was rather impressed with her argument, despite the insult in the middle of it, and he dropped his gaze quickly to Oneakka to see how he would respond.

"I'm not too weak and vulnerable to know what's right for me," Oneakka argued, clearly unhappy with her description.

"I said 'sick' and 'vulnerable', you're the one who used 'weak'," Seeal pointed out, far less maturely than her former argument. "And of course you're vulnerable. Look at you."

Oneakka's chest immediately expanded almost a whole foot and he stretched his spine up taller than he'd done in weeks, his whole body looking bigger now despite still sat in bed and against a pile of pillows. "I am _not _vulnerable. I don't need to be able to walk unaided to still kill a Wraith."

"Really?" Seeal challenged as she crossed her arms. "So, if a load of Wraith came storming in here now, and Halling and I weren't here, you'd be able to fight them off would you?"

"Yes," Oneakka argued, but there was the faintest pause that was all too telling.

Seeal rolled her eyes dramatically. "You were impaled by a Hive ship, it's okay to be vulnerable after that," she stated firmly down at him.

"It wasn't a _whole_ hive ship," Oneakka snapped angrily up at her.

"No one thinks it was a _whole_ Hive ship, so stop saying that!" She countered.

Halling suddenly remembered the horrible headaches he'd used to get around their bickering.

"And of course you're vulnerable," she continued. "The fact that you can't think straight enough to see that you need this medication proves that you're mentally vulnerable."

Halling winced at that insult. This was clearly getting out of control.

"You don't get to decide anything about me or my medication," Oneakka argued up at her.

"Don't you dare even think of using that word at me again," Seeal threatened randomly, pointing one long finger angrily down at him.

"I think we all need to take a breath and calm down," Halling interjected loudly, literally putting one arm in front of Seeal and her finger pointing to help break up the argument. Clearly there was some battle of wills going on here that he had inadvertently retriggered and it wasn't going to help resolve the current problem with the medication. Calling Oneakka names and challenging his strength was the absolute _last_ tactic that was going to achieve anything, and clearly Seeal was not the type of female who would back down from a fight.

The room dropped into silence, the two having surprisingly listened to him. He looked from one to the other, both silent but glaring at each other threateningly. The moment held in silence and Halling struggled to think of a way to get Oneakka to agree to anything now.

"Oneakka," Halling considered, "how about you agree to keep to the medication plan for another week?"

"No, Halling," Seeal suddenly responded, turning her glare on him now. "Don't cave into him. He wrote the plan for himself, so he needs to stick with it _all_ the way through to the very end."

That would be a miracle that Halling had never seen happen. "The medication plan lasts for another thirty days," Halling pointed out.

"Then he sticks with it for another thirty days," Seeal turned her dark glare back to Oneakka.

"It's _my_ plan and I get to change it," Oneakka replied with gritted teeth.

"You're not thinking straight, Oneakka," Seeal reasoned.

"There's nothing wrong with my mind," Oneakka countered, clearly offended.

"There's everything wrong with your body," she stated back. "You can't stand without help and that's with the full medication. What do you think is going to happen to you if you take that away?"

"I'm doing better than you think. I've faced far worse and gotten through it."

Seeal stared back at him, but something had changed suddenly. Halling considering Seeal's profile, practically seeing her mind working behind her eyes. She crossed her arms and stood up straight, considering Oneakka silently now.

Halling looked from her to Oneakka and back again, fascinated despite himself as to what would happen next.

"So you think the medication makes you _more_ vulnerable," Seeal theorised. Halling frowned at that conclusion, which he hadn't considered before. He looked to Oneakka.

"I don't need it all," Oneakka replied, but it was obvious he too was surprised at her, seemingly accurate, conclusion.

"Where's the medication plan?" Seeal asked, looking round at Halling and then down to Oneakka's side table. Halling reached for Oneakka's medical pad and handed it across to her.

Seeal tapped on the screen, reviewing the current stage of the medication. "According to this, which _you_ wrote, these meds provide you with pain reduction, increased blood flow to healing issues, and reduction of inflammation responses." She looked at Oneakka. "Explain to me why having less of these makes you stronger and more capable."

"They're too sedating," Oneakka told her.

"You're not doing anything more than lying down and limping around the room with help," Seeal countered. "Why is being sedated a problem for you right now?"

Though, Halling considered, the sedating effects of the meds had resulted in Oneakka blurting out a secret that he had kept for decades. He wondered if there were other lapses that Oneakka was worried about, maybe that was the problem here.

"I can change my mind whenever I want," Oneakka countered.

"And you think you're currently in any kind of state to make a logical reasoned decision about your health?" Seeal asked him.

"Yes," Oneakka glared up at her.

"Really?" Seeal asked sarcastically down at him.

"Yes," Oneakka repeated threateningly.

"Then maybe you should prove it," she smiled down at him. "You want to prove that you're capable and able to defend yourself if a load of Wraith burst in here, then fine. I'll agree that you are of sound mind and body if you can get up from your bed, walk _unaided_ into the bathroom, climb into the shower, and walk back to your bed without using anything for support."

"No, Seeal," Haling interrupted. "That isn't going to work with him. He'll do it." Challenging Oneakka like that always resulted in Oneakka stubbornly following through, even if he collapsed and they ended up begging him to agree to some common ground on a new medication plan.

"Oh, he can try," Seeal replied. "But," she pointed down at Oneakka. "If you can't do it, you have to _promise_ me that you'll stick to the medication plan."

Oneakka had already started pushing aside his bedding to shift to the side of his bed to start the challenge.

This was not going to end well.

"Oneakka," Halling tried to stop things. "How about you agree to-"

"No, Halling," Seeal snapped at him now. "Stop pandering to him. If he's so strong and capable and doesn't need us or the meds, let him prove it."

"He can't," Halling reasoned back to her. "He'll fall and hurt himself."

"Then let him," she stressed.

Halling frowned at her. "This never works," he explained.

"Oh it'll work this time, because Oneakka is going to give us his word as an _Honoured_ Elite warrior, because he's a man who keeps his promises."

Halling looked down at Oneakka, who was now sat on the edge of the bed looking up at Seeal defiantly. "I keep my word."

At least for a couple of decades, Halling silently mused.

"You're not allowed to touch any furniture to help you," Seeal set out the rules of the challenge. "Not the doorframe, not the screen door. You step up over the side of the bath, stand upright in there, then climb back out and walk all the way back here and sit down without touching _anything_."

Oneakka glared up at her. "And when I do it, you stop ordering me around and I get sole control of my medication plan."

"Fine," Seeal agreed. "But if you fail, you give your word that you'll stick with the medication plan. All _thirty_ days of it and no changes, _no_ negotiations, nothing. You do the whole thing."

"I won't need to," Oneakka stated with a confidence that Halling really just couldn't understand right now.

"That's not agreeing to it," Seeal narrowed her eyes at Oneakka suspiciously.

"_Yes_, I'll stick to the entire med plan if I fail," Oneakka confirmed grumpily.

"Good," Seeal smiled victoriously down at him. "Go on then," she indicated the short distance to the washroom, but even walking that short length unaided was impossible for Oneakka right now.

Oneakka clearly didn't see it that way though and was already starting to stand up.

Halling was already wincing as Oneakka carefully, and slowly, stood up by himself. With no helping hand to help him balance his weight and reduce the muscular involvement of his belly and back through his wound, it was clearly hard work. Though healed up on the outside and knitting together well inside, all the tissues and muscles that helped him stand upright normally had been torn and weakened from the injury, and, having pushed himself too much this morning, the muscle fatigue was already showing in a faint tremor passing through Oneakka as he slowly unfolded himself upwards.

But Oneakka did it, and in fact appeared to be standing taller than he had in a long time as he glared triumphantly at Seeal.

Though the glare would have been slightly more convincing had Oneakka not already broken out in a faint sweat and his face was noticeably paler.

"You can call an end to this at any point," Seeal told him.

Oneakka looked away from her, fixing his gaze on the door into his washroom. It was just over two metres away, and there was nothing between there and here that Oneakka could grab if he fell. Halling shifted up to Oneakka's right side, hovering by his elbow just in case, and, on the other side of him, Seeal held close to Oneakka's left elbow.

Ignoring them though, Oneakka let out a heavy determined breath and started to shift his weight ready for his first step. Halling watched as Oneakka winced, his lips tightly pressed together, as he lifted his right foot, moving his weaker leg first. The urge to reach in and help was almost overwhelming, but Halling held back as Oneakka got his right leg forward a step and started shifting his weight onto his foot successfully.

"Passing out or throwing up is also a fail," Seeal added.

Oneakka let out a long breath that was recognisable from their training. Bracing belly muscles that surely had to be in pain, Oneakka balanced his weight on his bare right foot and stepped forward with his left. It worked and Oneakka let out another breath. So much work just for one pace forward, but already he was shifting his weight onto his left foot to start his next step.

It was painful to watch, but Oneakka was doing it. Another short step and he was faintly closer to the washroom, his gaze fixed on that open doorway, staring at it as if it was his ultimate nemesis in life. Halling knew the technique. Oneakka would be pouring all of his will into his target, picturing himself already there. It was just that his body couldn't possibly do all that he was demanding of it. Considering that less than a month ago Oneakka had had a literal hole right through him and his heart had stopped, it was amazing that he was even able to walk unaided this much. Given another week, Halling wondered how much further he would improve.

But for today, it was clear that though he had managed five small steps now, Oneakka was fast running out of strength, but he was stubbornly going to keep going.

Halling hovered at Oneakka's elbow, Seeal directly opposite him, her attention on Oneakka's profile and her expression very serious.

Oneakka managed another step, but he wobbled this time and Halling almost caught him, but Oneakka quickly pulled both his elbows in to his sides, rejecting any support. He was breathing hard, his face drained, but his eyes were still fixed on the washroom door. He was over halfway there, but clearly wasn't going to be able to reach his target, let alone be able to get into the shower and out again.

"I'm arguing this for you, Oneakka," Seeal said. "I'm fighting for the Oneakka that wrote this medication plan with his logical uninjured body and mind. You don't do anything without good reason. You studied all these medications; you know what they all do, how they do it, and why you need them. You decided on these meds and I'm fighting for that part of you."

Oneakka held still, breathing hard. He was starting to waiver slightly on his feet, but he was still standing tall.

"What if I keep to the plan for another week?" Oneakka abruptly started negotiating, but kept his eyes forward.

"No," Seeal rejected the deal instantly. "You do the whole thirty days of the plan like _you_ planned it."

Oneakka let out a breath that was more of a snort of pain and frustration. He knew he wasn't going to make it, but Seeal didn't appear to be willing to bend. Halling held quiet. Normally he or Massa would have agreed to some terms by now, allowing compromise and Oneakka the right to feel that he hadn't failed. But Seeal looked determined and Halling had to wonder how this would play out.

"I'm doing this for _you_, Oneakka," Seeal repeated. "If I ever get injured like this, I expect you to look after me and tell me when I'm being an idiot." Oneakka looked faintly around at her now, still on his own feet, but his whole body was wavering, struggling to keep upright. "I'm sure you've done that for Halling and Massa," Seeal told him, her voice a little softer now. "Told them when they're being stupid and hurting themselves unnecessarily."

"Many times," Halling confirmed.

Oneakka looked forward again towards his target that he just wasn't going to be able to reach. Not today. Halling watched his friend's stubborn failing face, feeling for him.

"You have this medication plan the way it is because _you_ knew what would be best for you right now," Seeal continued.

Oneakka wobbled again. Was he really going to push himself to the point of collapse?

"Fine," Oneakka abruptly agreed.

Halling blinked in shock, but Seeal held up one hand, ordering Halling to wait.

What was happening?

"You promise me that you won't change your mind again?" Seeal asked Oneakka.

Oneakka's jaw clenched. "I promise," he agreed through gritted teeth.

"Wonderful," Seeal grinned and reached in and held Oneakka's far elbow, finally providing him with the much needed support.

So shocked at what had just happened, Halling was slow to respond and only now clasped Oneakka's elbow. Had Oneakka just agreed to keep to his whole medication plan?

Oneakka's strength gave out in a rush, his weight abruptly heavy in Halling's hands, but with Seeal's help they got him turned around and back towards the bed quickly.

Oneakka looked both flushed and pale at the same time as he collapsed back down onto his bed, panting with exertion as he sat on the mattress, his eyes closed. Halling reached in and arranged the pillows on the bed as Oneakka sat back against them.

"You've made the right choice," Seeal said cheerfully as she drew the covers back up over Oneakka's legs. Oneakka said nothing as he shifted against his pillows and gripped the top of the covers away from her and pulled them up over his middle. He was not happy.

Halling quickly reached for the medication pot and started pulling out the tablets that Oneakka had earlier refused to take. Seeal handed across Oneakka's cup of tea as Halling held out the first batch of tablets to him. Oneakka took the tablets silently, but did take them. Halling pulled out the second set and handed them across as well, watching closely to be certain that Oneakka was actually swallowing them.

"Where's Sheppard's jigsaw thing?" Seeal asked as Halling handed Oneakka the last part of the medication.

"Over there," Halling indicated the box sat on Oneakka's desk. Halling had suggested starting it a few times, but Oneakka had always preferred to focus on the Skerti research. "That Healing Bay table over there folds out and should be big enough to hold the work," Halling explained as he watched Oneakka swallow the last tablets. Oneakka's breathing had slowed back to normal, but he still looked flushed. Though, Halling had to wonder if some of that was due to perhaps anger and/or embarrassment for having lost the challenge.

Seeal had opened up the Healing Bay table and was now wheeling it across Oneakka's bed, Sheppard's jigsaw box sat on top of it. Clearly she was intending to start the game with Oneakka for her shift.

Halling consulted the time displayed on Oneakka's far side table. It was well past time that Seeal took over, and he was feeling hungry for his midday meal.

"I'm due to meet Massa for Midday Meal," Halling said to the silent Oneakka.

Oneakka silently nodded, his gaze directed away to the window on the other side of the room. He appeared to be sulking.

Halling worried that perhaps he should stay.

"It's fine, Halling," Seeal's hand brushed against his arm, requesting space. He shifted back from the side of Oneakka's bed as Seeal pushed the Healing Bay table further up the length of Oneakka's bed, so that it and the jigsaw were now near Oneakka's crossed arms.

Seeal's hand patted Halling's arm as she moved around him and sat down in the chair beside Oneakka. Oneakka's head was still turned away from her, but Halling saw the flash of blue eyes glare down at the table set in front of him and away again. It appeared that the battle of wills was in no way resolved.

"I will drop by later with an update on the scouting deployment," Halling told Oneakka as he started moving away. Hopefully they wouldn't kill each other while he was gone.

"Don't worry, Halling," Seeal told him as she reached for the jigsaw box and set it on her lap. "I'll take care of him," she smiled overly brightly as she opened the large box.

Halling saw Oneakka glare at her out the corner of his eyes, but said nothing.

Halling struggled not to smile at the suddenly quite amusing situation, so he nodded and turned away quickly, heading out of the tense atmosphere.

Massa was going to be so upset that he missed this.

Oneakka's door slid shut behind Halling's back and he took a moment to take a deep breath in and let it out. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Oneakka had actually agreed to keep to his medication plan? Though whether he would actually keep to his word in the coming weeks was an entirely different question.

But that was an issue for another day, for now Halling had his own lingering problem to consider.

Nalla.

How had he missed the truth all these years?

00000  
TBC


	26. Friendship

**DAY 22 – The Challenge**

**Chapter 26 - Friendship**

The little boy Aki was a delight to Nalla, his pure infant spirit and clear emotional web so wonderful to be around. It was not a standard part of her life to spend time with young babes, though there were a number of them here in the Facility, but she thoroughly enjoyed any opportunity to sit with them. The webs of such young infants were absent of any of the conflicting complexities of life, the emotional traumas, worried thoughts, and lingering fears that were common in all webs over a certain age. But babes lived purely in the present moment, with only their current needs and feelings present, and it was an innocence and purity that felt like a tonic against the harsh emotions which surrounded Nalla every day.

Though, as innocent and contented as Aki normally was, of late his teeth had been giving him great pains and were distressing him. A perpetuating cycle of pain, inflammation and tiredness had set in, and even Massa and the Healers were unable to improve it much for him. All they could do was attempt to soothe what they could and wait for nature to take its course and let the teeth erupt. Aki could not understand that there was a future in which his discomfort would end, and Massa's own emotional stress at his son's pain only made Aki more distressed. So, over these last few days while she had been staying in the Facility off rotation, Massa had appeared at her door several times with a screaming red-faced Aki who had become beyond consolation. Nalla was only too happy to help, as she was today, sat in the strangely quiet canteen, with Aki in her arms and Massa sat across from her as he tried not to fall asleep.

Nalla smiled across at Massa, who was barely succeeding in keeping his eyes open, and then back down to Aki. The little boy's eyes were drifting closed as he rested within her arms and energetic web. Most babes were naturally empathic in their first year of life, being instinctively attuned to the emotions of their parents and caregivers, so it was easy enough for Nalla to soothe young babes. She just sat holding them and let her web fill with her own comforting memories of her mother. Drawing on the deep remembered infant sensations of comfort, warmth, and love from when she had been held in Mother's arms as a babe, she let her emotions fill her being, glowing into her web and around Aki, and the babe was absorbing it in with blissful peacefulness. It was not difficult for Nalla to hold those feelings in her being, for they were a source of comfort to her to this day, to feel Mother's love for her, and, through her, Grandmother's love that filled Mother's memories and web, providing generations of love pouring down through to Nalla and now to Aki. Sharing such remembered love and peace with Aki was an honour and was clearly helping him.

And perhaps Massa as well. She glanced up from Aki's little closed eyes, to consider the sleepy Massa. His own web sung with relief and tiredness, but the calm was easing him as well. Not for the first time did she consider that perhaps Massa might be slightly empathic himself, having held onto the skill since a babe. He certainly was the most emotionally vibrant of all the Elite, willingly feeling what he felt as opposed to the Elite training of strict emotional control. This emotional openness was perhaps due to his deep long love for his lost Mera, or just how he naturally was, but he had a beautiful soul. A soul that still lingered with grief to this day, and Nalla suspected it would never go. He and Mera had had a beautiful powerful love for one another, and its absence still cut at Massa on a daily basis. Yet, he very wisely had not denied such feelings. He had asked for her help a few times as to how he should deal with the pain and sadness, and she had advised as best she could, but it had been Aki who had helped the most. The young babe and Massa had both needed each other and the bond was already strong between them.

Massa's eyes drifted shut and then snapped open again and he looked round. She chuckled at him before looking back down at Aki, who was now fast asleep.

"You're amazing," Massa whispered.

Nalla absorbed his gratitude as she reinforced her web with the echoes of Massa's love for his son, allowing Aki to feel that as well. "You can go and catch up on some sleep," she suggested again. "I do not mind keeping him with me."

"No, I'll wait for Halling," Massa replied as he rubbed both hands over his face.

Nalla considered the empty tray of food in front of Massa. Halling was late for their shared meal, which was most likely due to Oneakka. Frustration and conflicting anger were not all that unusual for Oneakka while he was recovering from injury, but there was a new aspect to it within to his web during this recovery which spoke of some profound changes within the powerful warrior. At first Nalla had suspected it was purely due to his brief death immediately following his violent injury, which her people knew could often result in powerful changes for people, but it had become clear to her that Seeal was also in part responsible. Where previously Oneakka had been able to assert his strength of character upon others and his situation, even to his own detriment, Seeal now appeared very willing and able to argue with him and assert her own dominance in turn. It was a situation that Oneakka was in no way pleased about and it only added further furore to the storm cloud of his web.

Nalla let her senses expand across the combined multitude of webs across the Facility and was instantly able to find Oneakka's distant brooding. She suspected it was the reason for Halling's delay and she suspected-

A sudden rushing emotional web registered loudly across Nalla's senses, deeply familiar yet vibrating with conflicting anxiety. She looked up and round from Aki to see Halling stood in the entrance to the canteen across the room. His web held deep tremors of shocked confusion, guilt, and worry as he watched her from across the canteen.

Ah, it appeared that her long held secret had been discovered.

Nalla turned to Massa. "Could you hold Aki for a moment, I shall be back quickly," she instructed as she handed the sleeping babe over to his father. It would not do Aki any good to be close to Halling's web with its current conflicted raw feelings. Massa took Aki with worried caution, his eyes fixed on his son's face to ensure he didn't wake up during the transfer. Nalla held in her seat for a moment longer to keep the feelings of Mother's love around Aki a little longer, but it was clear that the boy remained fast asleep, and Massa's emotions eased instantly.

The two settled, Nalla rose from her chair and headed across the canteen towards Halling. His eyes followed her, worried and anxious, his concern for her vibrant and appreciated. It was not as if she hadn't anticipated this day before, and in fact had practiced what she would say for many years, yet the subtle dancing embarrassment in her own web was a little disconcerting now the actual moment was upon her.

She made sure to smile as she reached Halling though, letting him see that she was not cross with his discovery. "Everything is well, Halling. You have caused me no harm," she assured him. Though it was not a lie, at the same time it was not entirely true. However, none of that was his fault and his distress for her vibrated strongly in his web.

A flash of relief curled around through his web at her assurances though, but embarrassment danced with it. "I truly never knew," he explained unnecessarily.

"I know that, Halling," she smiled. "And there was no requirement that you should."

He frowned, concerned but somewhat confused as well. She had become reasonably skilled at maintaining her walls against the vibrant and loud webs of others, not allowing them to wash over her too much. However, with close friends, she was not always so capable at remaining unaffected. Especially so with Halling.

"If I had known..." He started only to frown, confusion growing around him like a dark cloud. He was not sure what he would have done.

"I am grateful for our friendship, Halling, and have always been," she assured him. "We have fought great battles beside one another and supported each other through great moments of loss and sadness. That is the mark of true friendship. There was no harm caused in any of this."

More sensations of relief swirling within his web, chasing away the darker clouds. "I consider you a strong and powerful warrior and friend," he replied, his honesty clear to her, though some discomfort and caution were still lingering through him.

She smiled at his compliment, accepting it for how he intended it. "And I you. I would like for our friendship to continue unhindered by this revelation," she told him.

He nodded swiftly, his smile finally more natural. "I do as well."

It was what she wanted to hear and what he needed to hear and agree, but it still found that little point of weakness in her defences. He in no way intended the hurt this caused her, yet it was no less true.

"Good," she told him and forced herself to smile. She had long ago known her feelings were not returned, yet now the day had arrived in which that truth was set...she just wished she didn't have to sense Halling's true feelings so clearly.

An awkward discomfort swirled around him in the silence that fell between them. "I am assuming that it was Oneakka who told you?" She asked to continue the conversation and to confirm her suspicions.

"It was because of his medication and he deeply regrets breaking his promise to you," Halling insisted in defence of their mutual friend.

"I have no doubt of that," she assured him. "It was a long time ago, Halling, and I did not withhold it to cause you harm. I will visit Oneakka later today to assure him that I forgive his telling you."

Halling's eyes glanced aside and back. "You could visit him once Seeal's shift has finished, I am sure he would appreciate the visit."

There he was again always watching out for Oneakka. Oneakka was far from a man who needed protecting, but it was what they all did for each other and, she knew, why Oneakka had kept his promise for so long: to protect her feelings. Perhaps the secret had not needed to be held so long, but it had helped her through her younger years to know that Halling was unaware of her yearnings. She knew far more than most that attractions were not always shared, after all she had not returned Oneakka's interest in her, though that interest had always been a simple physical attraction and had, of late, now entirely vanished. It was a normal part of life after all, love arose and passed, some people loved and lost deeply, others never loved another, and some were unaware of another's love. It was all normal and part of the ever flowing sea of emotions around her. She felt no blame towards Halling, just an old cherished love that would never be returned.

"I will visit Oneakka at that time as you suggest then and share Late Meal with him so that he knows I have no ill will towards him," she decided. "And perhaps assist with whatever is distressing him so much today," she glanced off past Halling's shoulder towards Oneakka's distant storm cloud of angry feelings.

"I am not sure there is enough power anywhere in the galaxy for such a feat," Halling joked.

Yet, she sensed in him a new blossom of amusement and excitement to share something. But first he had to eat, the hunger swelling around in his web.

"Come," she reached out and gripped his long forearm, "you need to eat, you are very hungry, and clearly have quite a story to tell us."

He grinned at that and acquiesced instantly to her pull on his arm to walk with her towards Massa. Yet, she felt a frisson of sudden curious interest within him at her touch and she dropped her hand from him, knowing that such curiosity would no doubt linger in him for awhile until he adjusted to the new normal between them.

"You're really late, Halling," Massa smiled at Halling as they reached the table and she was pleased to see that Aki remained comfortably asleep. "What chaos did Oneakka cause today then?" Massa asked with curiosity and humour dancing through his web with great anticipation.

"Something _very_ surprising," Halling replied, his web vibrating hotly with eagerness now to share what had happened, and she felt it soothe the edges of his lingering embarrassment and concern.

Except she realised that Halling had sat down without gathering himself any food, so eager he was to share his tale. "Halling," she asked him before he could start, "do you want your usual Athosian spice sandwich?"

Halling glanced down at his own bare space of table, realising himself that he had nothing to eat. "Yes," he moved to get up.

"No, stay, I wanted more kita juice anyway," she reassured him as she stood up again. "Besides you clearly have a quite a significant story to share regarding Oneakka," she smiled as she set her hand on his shoulder, only to feel his slight shock at the touch, so she removed her hand and quickly headed away from the table towards the food selection.

She kept her pace relaxed and normal, but she had to work to keep it measured and calm as she worked to gain some speedy distance from the situation. Once across the room and at the arrangement of food set along one side of the canteen, she took a moment to pause and take a calming breath. No one else was at the food selection and no attendants were required for the midday meal self-service, so she had this small space to herself.

She closed her eyes and leaned her weight onto the edge of the table, allowing herself this moment. Except, she was never truly alone; around the canteen, several Recruits sat alone, their webs vibrating loudly with anxiousness and tiredness, and in the kitchen behind the food, she could feel a rumbling disagreement between two of the kitchen staff. Outside the walls of the canteen, fellow Elite and staff were focused on duties or personal matters, and Recruits were in classes and in the gyms, all forming a loud cacophony of sensations of interweaving emotions. When younger, she had found it overwhelming, but now she was usually used to the background noise. Yet, when her own feelings shifted dramatically, as they were doing now, when she let herself linger on feelings of self-indulgent regret and heartache, she struggled to keep the background noise at bay.

Realising her control was slipping with increasing speed, the webs all vibrating too loudly into a shouting rush, she reached for a tray for Halling and forced herself to focus back on those memories of Mother's soothing presence that she had shared to calm Aki. To remember the soft warmth of Mother's skin, echoed only months ago by Mother's most recent embrace, her cheek against Nalla's. Sinking into her web, Nalla reached out towards Mother and their people on Pelydr. Though the distance was light-years between them, she could still sense the combined powerful web of her people, and she reached towards them, desperately calling for support and sustenance.

And it was given.

She felt the surge of giving cross to her immediately, providing strength and understanding, and, through it, the reminder of her unique destiny as an Elite warrior. She drew it in deeply to her soul, letting it fill her with strength in place of the empty sad place inside her that remained unloved by one she would choose. Instead, she let herself feel her people's love for her. Within a breath, the loud rushing invasion of the webs of the Facility subsided and she was once again at the height of her control and strength.

She let out a sigh of relief and sent her gratitude and love back to the web of Pelydr.

And in response, now sounding out separately, she felt Mother's web reach out, sending her love and wisdom and, through her, all the combined strength of their ancient mothers behind her.

00000

He hurt.

Every part of him screamed in hot pain, over-strained, over-heated, and weak.

He'd barely made it a metre across his own quarters on his own before he had needed to be helped back to his bed. Like an old man.

And he'd lost the challenge and had to agree to the whole damn medication plan.

And she'd won.

He shouldn't have risen to her baiting trap.

Now he was stuck with the whole med plan, she'd won, and he hurt.

Though, the latest dose of meds he'd just taken would probably help, but it would take a bit of time until they kicked in. Until then, he had to sit here with her as she victoriously set about moving his things again, having wheeled the Healing Bay table up to him like he couldn't do it himself.

He glanced at the table as her hand came into view and deposited a large handful of the small pieces of Sheppard's game directly in front of him.

"Sheppard said we first need to find the corner pieces and any with a straight edge, so we can form the frame of the picture and work inwards from there," she instructed, which he already knew because Sheppard had told him first. He wasn't sure when Sheppard had given her the same explanation. Probably during the big social canteen gathering when Sheppard had been here and he'd been stuck in the Healing Bay by himself.

Her hand appeared again and another handful of pieces were added to his pile.

He wasn't going to fall for this latest baiting move; trying to get him to do what she wanted and pretend he hadn't just lost in humiliating failure.

He fixed his eyes back on the window to the left. It wasn't the most interesting of views, just bare moon rock a mere few feet beyond the reinforced and multiple layers of glass. Still, it was better than falling for her latest tactic.

She should just go, leave him alone like she'd threatened yesterday.

He waited for her next comment, no doubt some sickly attempt to make him feel better and allow her to bask in her win.

Except she wasn't saying anything, the room quiet. Well, except for the small little noises of her hand moving through the rest of the little puzzle pieces. He faintly looked round out of the very corner of his eyes to see what she was doing. She had the lower part of the box that was Sheppard's gift on her lap, her head bowed over it, her hands raking through the tiny irregularly shaped pieces. She picked out several pieces and started lifting her head, so he quickly looked away again.

But he heard her put them on the table.

He waited a beat and then glanced down at the table with just his eyes, keeping his head turned towards the window. She'd built up an annoyingly good amount of puzzle pieces with a straight edge already. He glanced at his untouched pile, but looked away again.

He wasn't going to let her get her way anymore.

"First corner piece," she announced victoriously from the right, but he kept his eyes on the glass as he heard her place the piece on the table.

The room went quiet again with just her hands in the box echoing against his right ear.

After a pause, he realised that the medication had started to kick in, that the hard edges of the pain had dulled and he let himself take a slightly deeper breath into his belly. His wound didn't pull and a rush of relief flooded up through him. He'd worried that he'd torn something inside with the one metre walk, but the meds were dealing with what was probably just muscle strain and fatigue, and his irritated scars.

Stupid medications were helping, and now he had no way to alter the med plan. Unless he broke his word, but it felt wrong just considering that. Plus, he'd already broken his word today, blurting out Nalla's secret that he'd kept for decades. Stupid mistake of his weakling state.

"Another corner," Seeal stated, still trying to lure him to play Sheppard's game. A game for sick people apparently. Besides, he wasn't going to forget her storming out yesterday. She'd probably want an apology, but he certainly wasn't going to do that now.

He focused back on the moon rock outside.

Which was getting pretty boring actually.

He frowned at the barren rock that was a little too reminiscent of his latest bizarre dream last night. He'd been back on that weird dark sandy version of Ugun again, though this time he had been plotting out space to build a cabin. Which was stupid, not simply because you couldn't build on sand like that, but also because he'd already built a cabin on Ugun for himself long ago. He had no idea why his subconscious dream state wanted to do it again on such unstable shifting ground.

She'd been there again too, in her raven bird form, sitting on a fence he'd built. Which, now he thought about it, was odd because he'd built the fence before the cabin, and it wasn't like he would need to define his plot of land; the whole of the Ugun planet belonged to him. Who was he keeping out with the fence?

He heard her drop what sounded like a good handful of more puzzle pieces on the table. He glanced round, worrying that she'd found the remaining corners, but they were all side edge pieces. He looked back to the window, pleased with that much at least.

She could finish the whole thing anyway, he didn't care.

Though, technically Sheppard gave it to _him_ not her, so he could play _his_ game if he wanted to.

He glanced at his untouched pile of games pieces, wondering if the remaining corners might be in it. He ran his eyes over the pieces all jumbled together and spotted a piece with a clear straight edge in the pile.

He reached out and shifted one finger into the edge of the pile, drawing out that one edged piece and shifted it a fraction away from the rest.

There looked like another edge piece as well though, so he pushed that to join the first piece. Another was just visible too, so he fished around to draw that one out. After this one, he'd stop, just-

This latest piece had two edges – a corner.

He picked it up and victoriously dropped it on top of the two corners she'd found, but he said nothing as he returned his attention to his pile of pieces.

She said nothing either though, so he faintly glanced round at her again out of the very edge of his eyes, but she was focused on the box of pieces on her lap. A frown down at the box showed that she had far more pieces than she'd put in his pile, so the chances that the final corner piece was in there was pretty high. He returned his attention to his pile and started properly working through the tiny pieces, using her technique of separating some, judging them and those that had no edges went into a new pile.

No last corner piece yet though.

He glanced at her hand as it appeared on the edge of his focus, but they were just more edge pieces she was adding to her annoyingly large pile. She hadn't found the final corner at least.

The meds were properly filling his system now and he could feel the annoying faint dullness to his senses, so he focused intently on the sorting of the puzzle pieces.

He was running out of pieces in his pile and no corner yet.

Worried now, he flattened out the small remaining part of the pile, spreading them out so he could see...yes, the final corner! He grabbed it up and, again, dropped it onto the other three corners.

He wasn't completely useless after all. Except she'd given him the pile of pieces in the first place.

He ignored that thought and gathered up his pile that had no edges in them and set them in the middle of the table. She'd put the top of the game's box that held the completed picture on the side of his bed, so he reached under the table and retrieved it, lifting it up so he could start organising the pile of edges into the picture's outline, taking the lead on that bit. He judged each corner piece first, spacing them out a good distance, and then started sorting different coloured pieces out and slowly forming the sides.

Occasionally her hand appeared and added some new edge pieces, now in smaller batches and less frequently. They had most of the edges now he estimated. She reached in and removed the pile of non-edge pieces he had sorted and he heard her drop them into the box with the rest.

The chimes to his door rang out abruptly, which would be his midday meal, no doubt delayed by Halling when he'd fallen asleep through the usually delivery time. It was a common enough routine though, and Seeal got up and headed towards the door without comment. Oneakka lowered his eyes back to the game.

He heard the door swish open.

"Good day to you," a canteen assistant announced to Seeal.

"To you too," Seeal replied with surprising cheerfulness, probably intended to make a point.

"Honoured Elite's meal," the assistant explained unnecessarily. It wasn't like this was a rarity right now. He had to have all his meals brought to him and set in front of him. He glanced up from under his brow as Seeal said some pleasantry goodbye to the assistant and the door slid shut. She was heading towards him with a covered tray of food.

He set the game box's lid aside, focusing on that she set his tray down on the table in front of him on top of the puzzle pieces.

He resisted the urge to thank her, pressing his lips together as he lifted the warm lid off the main meal to reveal the soft easily edible food he was always given lately. His repaired bowel could handle normal food now, but some things caused some discomfort, scratchy foods as he thought of them, so Meiyo had adjusted his meal plan. Even his food was chosen for him right now.

He peered down into the bowl of today's delivery. It was one of the soft bean and vegetable stews again. The large flat and mashable soft beans were standard for convalescence and for babies. Aki probably ate this all the time.

Still, it smelt good and he was abruptly aware of how hungry he was. He'd also been given several pieces of sweetgrain bread, which he dunked into the stew, softening it up and absorbing the flavours. He had, at least, started to enjoy food again, and he was starting to crave more with his increased workouts. He judged that there was faintly more to his portion today than over the last few days.

But soon enough, he was at the bottom of the bowl and realised he was scraping out the faintest last smears of the thick yummy stew juice. He set he bowl down and reached for the covered small sweet dish to follow it. It was a soft pudding with stewed sweet fruit on the top. He devoured it in only a few bites. He set about scraping out the last crumbs from the small pot, and finally reached for the small sealed bottle of kita juice to finish. He downed it in a few gulps. And the meal was unfortunately over.

He was still thirsty though, so he reluctantly turned to the side table by his left elbow and reached for the jug of nutritional tonic. He lifted the jug, though the weight of it caused a sharp complaint from his forearm, but he forced himself to pick up the jug and pour out a full glass of the drink. Maybe tomorrow he'd be a little more cautious with his arm exercises, give his forearms time to recover. He drank down half the glass of tonic and looked round to see that Seeal had removed his empty food tray, revealing the game again.

He wiped his mouth, suddenly aware that he had been gobbling down his food like he was starving.

She had added some more edge pieces onto the table, a small little island in the now empty space within the frame he'd almost completed of the picture. He reached in and decided on where these new pieces should go, pressing the irregularly shaped edges together. Sometimes pieces he thought should fit, didn't. He frowned at one piece, unsure why it didn't seem to fit in the logical single space on one edge, so he picked up the box lid to consult the picture. Ah, it was because there was a small splash of that same colour on the other side of the picture, so he so he placed the piece within the large gap on the correct side.

He sat back a little further against his pillows, his stomach warm and full, the medication fuzziness adding to the tiredness washing over him. He had had enough of the game now really, his brain drained of blood being diverted to his stomach and probably to deal with all the overworked muscles.

He'd pushed himself too far today, but part of that was her fault, for baiting him into that challenge. He glanced at her out the corner of his eyes again. She was moving pieces around in the box with renewed focus, seeming unaware of him now. Which was annoying. She was supposed to say something to apologise or make him feel better about his failure.

He frowned at his soft edged annoyance. Or was it his fault for insulting her yesterday? How had the whole thing started again? She'd been messing with his things, yes, that was why he was cross with her still.

Renewed with that, he sat up a little straighter and considered the table and the mostly complete frame of the picture.

She reached in with one hand and set a small collection of pieces right in the middle of the empty space on the table and withdrew her hand. He leant forward to sort them, only to find that they were already connected together and showed a part of the picture with two drawn characters fighting over a bucket of water. He remembered her having laughed at that bit of the front picture before, but had she found that part of the picture on purpose now?

He frowned round at her and, this time, she was looking at him.

"Seemed appropriate," she shrugged and returned her attention to the box of pieces. "What colours are the missing edge pieces?" She asked as she dug loudly through the box.

He glared at her turned profile and her obvious attempt to start conversation, but looked at the table, assessing the answer to her question without thinking.

It would be childish not to answer.

"Red and green," he reluctantly told her. It felt like it had been awhile since he'd last said anything. He glanced at the timekeeping display to his left. It had been just over an hour of silence between them! Where had that time gone?

At least it had been enough time to make his point.

Though he wasn't entirely sure what that point was now...

"I'll keep looking then," Seeal replied. "We could maybe pick out all the pieces with faces on them next."

"You need to stop telling me what to do," he remembered his point and told her in a rush.

"I said 'could', not 'you must'," she replied instantly, her argumentative tone back.

He looked round at her, pleased that tone was back now and not that sickly sweet luring tone trying to bait him into things. "And stop moving my things," he remembered the other part of his point.

"You can play the game by yourself then," she responded and set the box of game pieces on the table with a flourish.

It felt like another challenge.

"Because you're far too used to everything being on your own terms," she added.

He glared at that statement. "These are _my_ quarters and _my_ things," he argued the obvious. "And being impaled by a Hive ship is _not_ on my terms."

"I thought it wasn't a _whole_ Hive ship?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm an Elite warrior," he emphasised. "You can't order me around."

"I just set you a challenge and the terms. You didn't have to accept them. Don't make it my fault because you lost and you know I'm right that you need the meds as they are written."

He glared at her direct bold eye contact. She didn't look cross anymore, in fact she looked annoyingly confidently calm. Like he should be, but instead there was just the rushing angry irritation that was nearly always itching at him all the time while he was stuck in bed, incapable of anything.

"I can make my own decisions," he told her firmly.

"You did. You decided to accept the terms. It's not _my_ fault you didn't make it to the shower and back."

He gritted his teeth at her annoying logic, but it was the smug calmness that really grated. "You pushed me into it."

"I pushed you?!" She scoffed. "When does _anyone_ push _you_ into anything?"

"I don't get my own way about everything, otherwise I'd choose better friends."

She laughed. He frowned at the bizarre wide grin and chuckle.

"Well, you're stuck with me, Halling, and Massa as your friends who care about you enough to argue with you when you're being an idiot."

He glared at her weirdness – she was smiling while insulting him, but also saying something nice. She was a really annoying woman sometimes.

"I am not being an idiot," he told her. "I can choose what meds I take."

"And you did, when you wrote that medication plan."

"I can change my mind if I want to, and I always change the med plans when I'm injured."

"Then why haven't you changed the plan to make it shorter?" She challenged.

"Trust me, I will after this, so next time you don't get to order me around."

"Okay," she replied as if it this was all amusing. "But for now, you promised to keep your word and see through the whole rest of the plan that _you _wrote."

Oh, she was feeling far too pleased with herself.

He held her eyes with his, letting her see all his annoyance and anger with her.

"Unless you're going to break your word again?" She asked, one eyebrow raised. It wasn't a question, it was another challenge. This time testing his honour.

"I keep my word," he stressed. "I'm not some ex-criminal running a space-station full of the worst in the galaxy."

She smiled again. Why did she keep doing that? That was supposed to have been a devastating insult.

"I think you're confusing me with Creass. I never ran that place, I just worked in it and led security," she replied, all calm.

"Please, he just sat at the top of it, you were the one who kept the place functioning," he told her, but instantly rejected what had turned into a compliment. Only he realised he had an opportunity to get in what he knew would be an effective insult. "As if you were his _wife_." He threw the grenade of an insult at her happily.

Her smile disappeared now and she narrowed her eyes at him.

Excellent, finally he'd gotten some upper hand again.

"I don't like that word," she said so that each word was full of threat.

So he did what she had done, and smiled at her victoriously. "Well, let's look at the evidence shall we?" He told her. "See if we can prove it even if you disagree."

She pursed her lips, annoyed that he was using her methods against her now.

"You protected him, oversaw every department in that station, looked after everything for him, and probably spent those ten years ordering him about so you always got your own way," he theorised.

She pulled a face. "No one alive could order Creass about. The man never listened to reason and made his own stupid decisions without listening to my advice. Which is why I'm so experienced at dealing with difficult, unthinking males."

He screwed up his nose at that nasty insult. "Don't compare me to Creass."

"You're _nothing_ like Creass, believe me," she replied with conviction. Was that an insult or a compliment?

Wait, was he now supposed to argue that he was like Creass? How had she turned the argument like that?

"You're _really_ annoying," he told her plainly.

"You're the same," she responded hotly now. "You write your own medication plan for when you're injured and then you argue against it, the plan that _you_ wrote? What kind of madness is that? Do you have to fight everyone, even yourself?"

"No," he stressed. "I know what's best for me."

"I think I've already successfully proven that you're not capable of being certain right now that you know what's best."

"All that proved was that I can't walk to the shower and back right now, but I _will_," he assured her.

"I'm not having this argument with you again, I've already won it," she stated smugly as she sat back in her chair.

"Annoying female!" He growled at her and looked away.

"Yes, I am," she responded with an obvious smile in her voice.

He glared at the moon rock outside the window again. Why was she so frustrating?

"You're just annoyed because you lost and you normally win at everything you do," she added.

"I don't win everything and get my way all the time," he glared back round at her. "You think I wanted to live my life fighting monsters and being impaled? Watching families torn apart and entire planets destroyed? You think I wanted this face?" He pointed at his facial scars.

Her eyebrows shot up her forehead and he realised he had put far too much feeling into that. He had revealed far too much.

He looked away quickly, grabbing control again of the simmering emotions threatening to overwhelm him. Stupid meds making him all emotional again.

Stupidly blurting out things again.

He blinked rapidly, angry that he'd let that all escape, that she'd seen it.

Damn his weaknesses.

"I didn't want to be born the smallest weakest Glisi," Seeal said. "I didn't want to spend most of my earliest years climbing trees by myself because the snow sat taller than me, that I spent most of my time sitting with the ravens for company. I didn't want to find my father's body lying in the snow, his eyes open and staring at me."

He blinked round at her, caught not just by the comment but by the tight vulnerable edge to her voice.

"His blood shocking red against the snow," she had glanced down. "I didn't ask to have to live on streets barefoot and hungry. I saw a lot of horrible things through those years. Little kids starving and dying of diseases we had no name or cure for, girls being molested, kids murdering each other for scraps of bread, Wraith killing the littlest who couldn't run fast enough. But, I knew there were stories of Elite warriors. On every planet, in every town we moved between, the kids told the stories. Most were rumours and exaggerated whispered half-heard stories really, but knowing that there were fighters like you out there, fighting the Wraith, it helped. Knowing that there was hope." She looked up at him. "That's no small thing."

He looked away, staring past the table with Sheppard's gift. He'd been on plenty of planets outside the Alliance and he'd seen the poor, the homeless, the orphans. The sick and the hopeless.

"Of course, I'd never really considered the sacrifices the Elite make," she continued. "Well, except the ultimate one: your lives. I used to think you were all crazy, throwing away the _one_ thing I had: my life. Now though, living here, seeing all those young Recruits..."

He glanced round at her pause.

"Are they any different? They have plenty of food, but the pressure is obvious. They're terrified half of them and the other half look..." she frowned as she sought the word.

"Resolute," he suggested a word he'd used to describe himself and others.

She nodded. "Because they all know that Elite usually don't live long."

He nodded.

"It's a big sacrifice, giving your life. I don't mean just at the end, I mean," she paused again, but he was already nodding along with her. "Giving up another life you could have had."

She'd attempted to ask a similar question before now, but he'd never really allowed this discussion with anyone before, not really. Among Elite it was almost sacrilegious to show any sign of doubt or question the Elite way.

"Of course, _you_ wouldn't have had that life," she added. "Because if you'd stayed on your world, you would have died on your planet with everybody else." Her tone had been careful, almost gentle. He sensed in her words a question that Halling had skirted around many times, as had the Mind Healers he'd been forced to talk with on numerous occasions.

He'd always avoided the subtle question that people kept asking him but not asking him. Before the recent hallucination of his family, he'd never really allowed himself to think it either. Except, it felt somehow unavoidable now, as if some shell around the truth had been cracked open by the hallucination, and now living on without his family felt like a heavy weight that pulled at his heart like it had never done before. It made no sense why now, but it was no less real.

"Some days I think it may have been better," he admitted quietly, his eyes on the table.

"I don't," she replied instantly, which wasn't an unexpected response, being the instant objection people had to such an admission. "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you turned up that day on Belsa, as terrifying as you initially were hunting me down through the rain."

He looked round at her, surprised at the admission so freely given.

"You showed me that an honourable life actually existed," she continued with her eyes moving away with faint signs of embarrassment of her own. "And you dragged me back to the Glisi world to face my past," she rolled her eyes with her more usual, and comfortable, sarcastic amused tone, "and then let me go free."

"You did kill a Wraith Queen and save Halling and me," he pointed out. "The Elite would always have let you go for what you did."

"I don't think the others wanted me on that Glisi mission, certainly not Kari," Seeal added, her voice softening on the lost Elite's name.

Oneakka nodded at the truth of that and feeling a renewed burst of grief at the loss of another of his friends and colleagues. So many had been lost. "People always have to face their past," he explained why he had taken her on the mission to the Glisi world, but it was also a reminder for himself now.

"Some people never do," she said.

He glanced away across his room, his eyes lifting up to the tapestry of his lineage name, the tapestry made for him by his people when he had left Ugun for his training. "But they should. Elite should always release the past and move forward," he whispered a military poem well quoted among the Facility's hallways.

His people had thought him a powerful warrior reborn, and a part of him had wondered if perhaps it was true, but that if it was, then he had failed them. He hadn't been able to protect them from their ultimate fate, but if he had been there that day, as Seeal had said, he wouldn't have been able to do anything except die alongside them. Instead, he was the sole survivor, the last of the Ugun race. Perhaps that was the fate he was supposed to fulfil? Not that he believed in fate.

Memories of the hallucination drifted to him, of Father's hand on his shoulder absolving him of blame. Perhaps he should listen to his father's advice and let it go. Set down the shame, guilt, and anger at being the last of his people.

It hadn't been his fault, though, ultimately, it had perhaps been the actions of the Alliance Military and Elite that had caused that day. A battle close by that had led that Hive and Queen to seek a new planet to claim and use as a base from which to attack back. But, that didn't mean it was the Alliance's fault.

The fault lay with that Wraith Queen and her Hive. But none of them had survived either. It was just him who had walked away from the burned remains of his world.

And into a life which, though hard and draining and painful at times, was worthy. He had never stopped believing that.

So perhaps it was time to finally let go of that past, let of go the anger, the shame of surviving, and the hope that some sign would magically appear to prove to him that it had been Father's wise words in his soul.

But instead, it had been his own mind speaking to him, telling him to set down the burden he had been carrying and move forward with his life. What that would mean in terms of the practicalities of his life, he had no idea, but maybe it simply meant no longer holding onto the old hurt and pain. Accepting that letting it go wasn't accepting his people's fate as anything but horrific. He would carry his people with him always, literally in his genetic material within every cell of his body. Perhaps that should be his testimony to them, rather than the raw anger and long held pain.

It felt oddly worrying to decide that though, like it would make him more vulnerable somehow. Which was a state he hated the most, and which had probably started all the arguments with Seeal in the first place.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday," he apologised against the lingering shame. It was time to move on from that too. "I get angry when I feel...vulnerable." He felt strangely warm for the confession.

He looked round at her, facing the feelings.

"That's okay," she shrugged but her eyes had dropped a little. "Just don't call me _that_ word again," she added, her eyes meeting his again with her normal strength and will.

"I think we have different views of what that word means," he considered.

"A domesticated weakling?" She asked with definite grumpiness behind the superficial sarcasm.

He was surprised at her interpretation. "That's definitely not my experience."

"Experience as in having a wife?" She asked with a confused frown.

"No, from the many wives I've met over the years, both civilian and military. You know that at least half of the Facility's non-Elite staff and Healing Bay staff are married? Many of them have spouses living here with them."

She glanced aside with a frown. "They do?"

"Yes," he confirmed for her. "And 'domesticated' or 'weakling' are words I'd _never_ relate to you," he added with feeling.

"Good," she said with a firm nod and her shoulders seemed to widen. "I'm glad we cleared that up."

"And I obviously do trust you," he added his one last due apology. "I didn't mean that when I said it."

"I know," she replied but she had a slightly unusual expression. "You were trying everything to win the argument."

"Exactly."

Good, it seemed that all was repaired then.

"And there's nothing wrong with your face," she added. "Everyone has scars; you're just brave enough to show yours."

He was more than a little shocked at that, and a little flattered. "Was that a compliment?"

"Well, you've had a difficult couple of days, losing repeatedly to me."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You just won _one_ argument, that's all," but this was playful banter now, the bitter resentment from before strangely vanished.

"Oh, it won't be the last," she assured him. "Because that's what friends do, isn't it?" The playfulness disappeared as she held his gaze. "We look out for each other and tell each other when we're being stupid?"

"You have some strange definitions of words," he smiled at her.

"And what about the word 'promise'? Are you going to keep your promise this time and actually stick to your med plan? Because you promised Meiyo you'd stick to it when you moved back in here," she asked.

He got from her tone that she was still honestly worried that he wasn't going to keep his word. "I never actually used the word 'promise'," he admitted. "I just agreed that I needed the medication."

"Oh I see," she narrowed her eyes at him, but he could tell she was relieved. "_Technicalities_ are how you got out of it ethically."

_She_ was going to argue technicalities and ethics? "How was it you managed to stay out of a Rosenthal prison again? A technicality about not being a criminal just guarding them on Dreamstation?"

"Hey, you don't blame the prison guards for what the prisoners do," she pointed at him.

"True," he conceded. "Though you did _technically_ hack into the Sythus' computer..."

"That was to prove a point and it paid off," she argued.

This was much better. Equal footing again and bantering back and forth.

"And you were the one who wrenched Toshka's computer core out of his office wall and carried it off," she continued.

"That was confiscating," he repeated his long held argument.

"With no legal document in sight," she retaliated.

"It paid off in the end," he used her own excuse.

"Yes, with _my_ help."

He had to smile, a deeply relieved sense of relaxation passing through him. He hadn't realised how tense he'd been these past days, well, perhaps for a lot of days now, but this frank conversation with her had really helped. His strange new friend, well, was she 'new' still? She'd been in his life for months now, so she wasn't really new anymore.

"Well that's what friends do for each other," he repeated her previous point and he watched a smile cross her pretty face.

"Yes we do," she agreed.

He saw nothing more than a seeming relieved warm smile crinkling around her eyes. She had no problem with this friendship, regardless of what Massa and now Halling had to say about it, there was no problem here between them. The line was clear and she seemed happy enough with it, as he was. Yes, she was pretty and she had a nice warm smile when she looked at him, but they were _friends_. It worked for them.

And he was grateful for it and her.

"And thank you for your part in taking care of me," he added.

"Wow, these are strong meds," she teased. "Maybe you're right and you need less."

He understood it was just a joke, one born maybe from slight embarrassment on her part. "Are you letting me out of the deal?" He checked.

"_No_, you're sticking to the whole med plan," she quickly pushed. "You gave your word."

He made a show of looking fed up, but he'd accepted that he'd see the damn med plan through now.

"Considering that your heart stopped just a few weeks ago, the fact that you made it five steps-"

"Six steps," he corrected her.

"Six steps today," she corrected with an amused smile, "was pretty impressive. According to Halling, Massa, and Meiyo, you heal crazy fast-"

"Was that another compliment?"

"I'm making a point, don't interrupt," she glared, but there was a smile behind it. "But you always mess with your medication plan, so aren't you the least bit curious how fast you'll heal if you stick with the med plan?"

He hadn't actually considered that. "You're just saying that to make me feel better about sticking with it."

"It's a serious question," she stressed. "If you heal up fast when you are too stupid to take the meds that could help you, what would your recovery be like if you were sensible this time?"

"There were a lot of insults in that sentence," he pointed out, "but clearly we're going to find out what happens when I stick to the plan."

"Good," she smiled and then made an exaggerated sigh. "I don't know how you survived before I came along."

He shook his head at his whisperer. "With far less trouble."

She chuckled at that. "_Boring_ you mean."

"Hardly," he replied, but, actually, she certainly had made his life more interesting since she'd turned up. "How was last night at Myrtle's?" He asked, remembering other forms of trouble.

"It was good, a great band played and it was nice seeing everyone again. Ru was even there."

Oneakka frowned at that. "I thought he was on assignment studying the Skerti drive."

"He's back on the Sythus for a few days, something to do with the engine," she replied as she stretched her legs out in front of her and slouched a little in her chair to relax at a more reclined angle.

"There's something wrong with the engine?" He checked. He was almost certain Halling would have said something about that.

"No, something about tuning it," she shook her head. "I wasn't really listening, to be honest."

He felt a strange little burst of satisfaction to hear that she hadn't been all that interested in the Lead Engineer's conversation. "And Myrtle?" He asked.

"Your favourite club owner was not there," she replied with a smile.

"That's a shame," Oneakka pretended.

She chuckled _again_. Had she smiled and laughed this much during their previous conversations?

"He did leave instructions for us all to have free entry and free drinks for the night for that troublemaker I pointed out to security the last time I was there," she added.

"Really?" Oneakka asked suspiciously.

"Oh and Madesh got chatted up by this Military Commander who, I don't know what she said or what he saw in her eyes, but he went completely bright red," she reported grinning. "And he didn't return to his normal colour until we reached the Portal hours later. He kept glancing over at her across the dancefloor and she beckoned him over a few times, but he didn't go. Said he was sticking with us for the evening, but I think he was tempted."

"I'll see if I can find out what happened from him," Oneakka considered, storing that away for the next time Madesh visited.

He glanced back to Sheppard's game. It had been interesting and he decided it would be a nice thing for him and Seeal to do during her shifts with him, but he didn't feel like doing it anymore. He reached round to the left side table, past the jug of remaining tonic and picked up the large pad she had left him yesterday. "Did you see any of the Olympics that Sheppard sent me?"

"No," she sat up in her chair.

"You didn't watch any?" He asked surprised.

"No, I just transferred it all to that pad and gave it to you," she pulled her chair further forward, setting her chair like Massa had done last night when they'd watched the sports together. "It's good then?"

"Massa and I watched hours of it yesterday. We just started on a new running competition if you want to watch it too?" He triggered up the latest recording.

"Definitely," she agreed leaning in as the screen lit up with the bright blue sky of Earth. "Wow," she gasped as the arena gradually filled the screen.

"As far as Massa and I can work out, these different images relate to a different regions, called 'countries', on Earth."

"Sheppard and the Atlantis Healer Carson said something about them at the Skerti briefing," she supplied eagerly, "apparently they have set land borders around them and you have to have a special document to travel across them into other countries, kind of like the Genii surface cities."

"Apparently every four solar yearly cycles on Earth, they have the Olympics in a different country each time and they all travel there for the competition," he explained what he and Massa had learnt yesterday. "The highest award is made out of gold and then second place one is silver and a bronze award is third place. At the end of each competition, they hang the awards around the competitors' necks and then play a song from the winner's country."

Seeal nodded as she listened, her eyes wide as she looked between him and the screen.

He set the pad on the table, angling it so they could both see it easily, and leaned back against his pillows, the faint discomfort in his muscles returning a little.

"Are you going to get upset if I plump up the pillows for you?" Seeal asked carefully.

"You can _help_ me plump them up," he explained.

"Okay," she agreed as she reached in and started retrieving pillows, plumping them up on her lap while watching the first race start on the screen.

The pillows all back behind him, Raven having admittedly done most of the work, he relaxed back.

She stretched out her legs in front of her and rested against one arm of her chair, settling in to watch the sports with him. He glanced at her awkward angle on the chair. "Do you want a pillow?" He offered.

"You do have a million of them," she said as she nodded.

"I have the wedge and _four_ pillows," he corrected her as he leaned forward to give her space to take one.

"Now you have three," she smiled as she scrunched up the pillow behind one shoulder to help support her relaxed slouch.

And so he sat with his whisperer, the day's struggles resolved, and sports from an alien world in a distant galaxy to watch together. This was, indeed, an unexpected friendship, formed from shared strife and an undercurrent of attraction, but one that he realised he valued even more today.

Massa and Halling might have their ideas of what this relationship should be, but Oneakka was happy like this and she appeared to be as well. Good friends with much in common and a brutal honesty and that, though challenging, he greatly valued.

Besides, if her theory panned out and keeping to the med plan would speed up his recovery, since he'd gotten halfway to the bathroom door today, he was determined to make sure he got all the way there by himself by the end of the week.

After all, it was time to let go of the past and see what the future held.

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TBC


	27. Winter Memories

**Note:** Apologies for the delay since the last chapter – work has been crazy busy. But I'm back at the wheel and providing the last chapter in Day 22 of this story. Then its onto the next stage of this particular fic... I hope everyone remains well and safe.

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**DAY 22 – The Challenge**

**Chapter 27 – Winter Memories **

The woman's shoulders lifted and dropped as the athlete let out a strong breath, her eyes focused off into the distance as she prepared. Seeal watched the Earth woman rock her weight back onto one foot, shift forward again and then back once more. It was a motion that all of the javelin throwers had used before they took their run and released the long javelin in lengthy impressive arcs down the field ahead of them, the massive watching crowds cheering each attempt. The women, like all the competitors she and Oneakka had watched this afternoon, were impressive, and Seeal had enjoyed the hours of fascinating insight into another world in an entirely different galaxy.

Her borrowed pillow was a comfortable addition squished up against one side of her chair and she had settled into a weirdly comfortable sideways slouched position from which to watch the sports and debate the technique of each competitor with Oneakka.

The Earth athletes were very skilled, though some were clearly struggling with previous injuries and the stress of what had to be thousands of Earth people watching around the giant arena. Still, she couldn't help but imagine how the Elite would do in these competitions. Oneakka had certainly added some interesting commentary on the techniques used, confirming the stereotype that Elite were experts in pretty much anything that could be shot, thrown, or swung as a weapon. Though Oneakka had been far less approving of the footraces, seeming annoyed that there weren't any 'obstacles' during the races. He'd repeatedly complained that it wasn't realistic and not a true challenge. She'd pointed out that the whole point seemed to be that it was a run over flat ground to find the fastest runners, but Oneakka seemed to think it was "cheating" somehow. Apparently he felt there should be walls, pits, and mud to make it "at least viable". She'd just chuckled at his rather scoffing judgy tone and had suggested they move onto some other sport within the Olympics, which had led to a high jump competition, which had impressed Oneakka, and now the javelin throwing. Oneakka had commentated with far more respect in this sport and had already predicted his top three favourites to win.

Perhaps that was why he hadn't fallen into one of his usual afternoon naps yet, being too interested in the competition and seeing his favourites win. She'd have expected him to have been even sleepier than usual today considering how he'd overdone things earlier and his argument that his meds were too sedating, but he seemed oddly cheerful and animated about the sports.

Or maybe it was the powerful women's figures that were keeping his rapt attention?

She frowned at that random thought. She had certainly enjoyed the male runners' tight outfits; it wasn't often in life you got to see some strong male thighs on display. She chuckled quietly to herself against Oneakka's borrowed pillow as she watched the javelin thrower rock back on her heels again, eyes forward and focused.

And the commentator announced the javelin hit and the crowd shouted with approval.

Seeal snapped her eyes open. She'd missed the throw!

She blinked at the screen, watching as the Earth people jogged across the javelin field and began measuring the distance of the throw. Then the recording returned to the athlete as she waited to hear her distance. It was the same woman though, so Seeal had only missed a few seconds. She quickly sat up straight from the overly comfortable pillow and quickly glanced at Oneakka's profile, but he was focused only on the screen and was muttering about it having looked a good throw. Good, he hadn't noticed. Honestly, she was supposed to be 'on duty' looking after him, not falling asleep sprawled on one of his chairs!

It was just because she hadn't slept well last night.

"That was good. She's going to go through to the final easily with that throw," Oneakka declared looking round at her.

She nodded, pretending she could remember the other competitors' results.

"Good form and strength. Good focus," Oneakka continued with approval as he looked back to the displayed distance result, fortunately unaware of her own loss of focus.

"Yes, very good," she agreed as she ran her hands over her hair and adjusted her top slightly. She'd gotten far too relaxed, which was because she was so tired and that was all his fault.

After their huge argument yesterday, she hadn't slept much last night. With one too many drinks out at Myrtle's and constantly replaying the details of the argument, she'd laid awake for hours. She'd cursed Oneakka's stupid arrogance and lack of respect, muttered at his inappropriate insulting term of 'wife' and then had turned on herself for still being awake so long obsessing over it all. As the time display had shown hours of restlessness, she'd moved onto stewing over the fact that the galaxy was full of too many difficult males trying to dominate everything and get their own way, and why she kept finding herself attached to such stupid males: Ulfur, the annoying pit fight runners, Creass, and now the big oaf Oneakka.

Somewhere around the middle of the night, the angry tossing and turning had mutated into sad depressed embarrassment that she had reacted so dramatically to his insult. Madesh had made it clear in his overly kind way that she may, _perhaps_, have overreacted a fraction. She'd been insulted by the very worst in the galaxy before and she'd not cared, but Oneakka used one random insult and she had turned into a mad woman shouting at him and spending all night obsessing over it. It was horrifically embarrassing, not just that she had done it, but it was clear evidence for her that she had lost some control of the stupid soft little feelings for the big stupid Elite oaf. Just one word and she'd gotten so upset she couldn't sleep!

Then the terrible thought had occurred that Oneakka might have worked out the same from her dramatic reaction. So she'd tried to work out how she could bring up the subject of Pampata so that Oneakka would know that she knew about his lover, so it would be damn clear that she was in full control. For her, the line between them was nice and strong, and she just needed to find a way to make that clear without making it seem obvious. Because the _last_ thing she wanted in her life was ending up in some sort of emotional servitude to another big dominating male who made her feel small and threw their overbearing weight around.

She'd never managed to formulate a plan on how to casually bring up the subject of Pampata as, somewhere in the early hours of the morning, she'd finally fallen asleep from pure exhaustion. The alarm had woken her after only a few hours of sleep, and she'd sat up on her bed feeling like she'd been through a long final pit fight. All because of one stupid argument.

What had happened to her?

She'd looked down at the pile of tear-stained tissues dropped on the floor beside her bed and the instinct to run had powered up through her. She'd been fighting that reaction since the first day she'd moved into the Facility, and each time she got close to giving into it, it was always because of Oneakka. He was a weakness and an infuriating soft trigger for her, and that was no good at all. But, tired, sad and annoyed with herself, she hadn't been able to do anything other than get up, dressed and into an early morning Project meeting.

She'd focused as best she could on the meeting, presenting a few small ideas she'd had, but as soon as the technically intense meeting had turned away from her own involvement, she'd called up Oneakka's rota on her pad and had contemplated how she could get out of this afternoon's shift with him. She'd started drafting a text link to Halling to get out of it, and in fact to remove herself from the rota completely going forward, but she hadn't been able to find an excuse that didn't seem completely transparent and embarrassingly obvious. Massa's repeated insinuating comments of late had echoed in her head too, now filled with the embarrassing conclusion that he was clearly aware of her stupid crush. Did Halling know too? Were they looking at her with pity all the time and now Oneakka would know too after her overreaction?

By the end of the long meeting, she'd made no headway with the text link and had still been on the rota for the afternoon's shift, so she'd deleted the draft message. At that point she'd realised that she'd not had any first meal, having completely forgotten to feed herself. Hungry and feeling uncharacteristically defeated, she'd headed for the canteen to eat, hoping desperately not to walk into Massa on the way.

Except, then something had happened in the busy Facility corridors that had finally slapped some sense into her. She'd been lost in her own self-pitying thoughts as she walked through the pretty busy hallways, when she'd heard a loud blast of angry shouting. The sound was pretty unusual in the Facility but overly familiar in her own life, and she'd looked back down the corridor to see two male Recruits locked in an altercation. The larger male with the clearly overdeveloped arm and shoulder muscles had the other teenage boy by the front of his top and was shouting about something having been taken from him and that he was due something. Fists started flying in a split-second, the smaller male forced to the ground and the larger one dropping down on him, fists pounding round and down with a flourish of speed that was as impressive as it was unnecessarily violent.

She'd reacted without thinking, it being far too instinctive for her. "Oi, you!" She'd ordered loudly with her Security Lead tone which had returned to her all too easily. "Back off, _right now_!" She pointed the bigger male away as she arrived at the fight.

And it had worked. The large man-child had instantly stopped his assault and had stepped up and away, possibly more from surprise than anything else.

"Does he look like a Wraith to you?" She demanded loudly as she pointed towards the bloodied other male. "Go take whatever issue you have to the gyms and spar it out properly, not cluttering up the corridor and splattering blood over the walls and passing staff members."

"Sorry," the bigger male had muttered, a confused looking frown creasing his teenage brow as he struggled to understand why he was listening to her.

"Go," she had repeated her order sternly, pointing down the corridor with her whole arm. "And I'll not report the blood splatter to the Elite."

The male had slinked away, several other Recruits, his friends presumably, following him.

She had turned back to the other male who had gotten up off the floor, his nose clearly broken and blood pouring down his shirt. "You," she had volunteered a watching nearby Recruit, "see him to the Healing Bay please." The young woman had nodded obediently and stepped up to take the male's arm.

"Thank you," the young male had muttered very reluctantly, or perhaps it had been a concussion dulling the words.

"Next time," Seeal had made sure to inform him, "if someone grabs your clothes, the fight's _already_ started, so you better fight back."

The young Recruit had nodded and turned away.

The whole thing had taken barely a few seconds but it had been like a splash of cold water across her entire being. _That_ was who she was, a woman who kept difficult dominating males _in line,_ not ordered around and upset by them. She was Dreamstation's former Security Lead, not that sensitive wreck of a woman the night before. Confidence abruptly renewed, she'd held her head high and had stridden away down the corridor to her midday meal. Then, afterwards, she had headed to her shift with Oneakka with defiance and determination because she wasn't walked over by anyone.

Except she had arrived into Oneakka's quarters to find an exasperated looking Halling clearly in need of back-up.

Oneakka's difficult, grumpy and stubborn behaviour from yesterday had clearly continued overnight and Halling had become his latest target, so she'd not held back from arguing with him on the point of his medication plan. Halling had been far too ready to acquiesce to some weak middle ground, but she'd made sure to shut that down. Even when it hurt his own health, Oneakka seemed ready to do whatever he wanted without care.

Only, things had then started to head off in a more unexpected path.

Oneakka had gotten focused on being seen as 'weak', and suddenly she had realised what all his defiance had been about. He wasn't just frustrated and lashing out at people because of irritation, it was because he really was feeling acutely vulnerable and, for some reason, he felt that sticking with his medication plan only made him more so. And suddenly Oneakka had made sense to her again and a burst of relief had settled over her.

And it had put their own argument yesterday into a whole new light: It hadn't been about her.

All her resentment and embarrassment had vanished, and suddenly she'd been able to see the way to get him to agree to the medication plan. She'd used logic and challenge, two things she knew he valued, and it had played out just as she'd expected. Actually, he'd done far better than she'd predicted. Watching him stand alone and walk six painful-looking steps across his room had been pretty impressive. His pure will and strength had gotten him partway, but he was never going to make it and finally he'd had to admit defeat. He'd reacted with grumpy silence for a good hour afterwards, but she hadn't minded. Her place in the world had made sense again and she had no problem with sulking people. It was the violent difficult ones that she hated. Plus, Ulfur had turned sulking into an art-form that no one could surpass, so she'd simply focused on a task they could do together. As Sheppard's gift had slowly formed into an outline, Oneakka had managed over an hour of stubborn silence and angry glances out the corner of his eyes, but she'd just waited for him to start venting out what he needed to say. And, finally, he'd started slinging insults again, but, unlike yesterday, she hadn't taken any of it to heart.

Even when he'd used his annoying new weapon of using the 'w' word at her, she'd kept calm and in control of herself this time. Her patient lack of reaction had appeared to annoy him further, probably because it was only more evidence that he wasn't himself right now. But venting was good for him, so she'd thrown in a few comments to keep things on track and, without much prompting, he'd abruptly let slip some profound revelations about himself.

He'd clearly instantly regretted it a split second latter, looking away sharply, his whole body tightening up and screaming embarrassment and aching vulnerability.

It had almost made her cry, the brutal sight of the damage that this strong and powerful male had experienced. It hadn't just been the obvious grief at losing his people that had poured out in his spontaneous angry confession, but also that he questioned his life as an Elite, that he hated the things he'd seen, and even that he felt self-conscious about his facial scars.

She had never considered that a man as strong and confident as Oneakka would carry that kind of heartbreaking baggage. It made absolute sense that he would grieve forever for his people, but it hadn't occurred to her that the rest of his life since had been so filled with horrible things that he appeared to wish that he'd never left his homeworld. She imagined that admitting such things was the very last thing he'd ever want to do and seeing him wrestling with embarrassment at the raw exposure of his deepest wounds, she'd done the only thing she could think of to help: she'd let herself be vulnerable too.

She'd shared some of her own ghosts, told him about her loneliness as a little girl and the horrific haunting memory of finding Father dead on the blood-stained snow. And it had worked, as Oneakka had looked round, listening with cautious curiosity.

She knew what it was like to live life carrying horrible memories brewing under the surface, to question your own existence and the choices you made. So, she had told him about her earliest memories of stories about the Elite, how just the mention of the warriors had inspired her fellow street kids. That what he had decided to do with his life meant something to even the most ignored of people.

To let him know that he made a difference, just by being who he was and not having been lost with his people.

And he'd looked away up towards the protective frame holding his Ugun tapestry and he'd talked about letting go of the past. She'd watched him in fascination, clear emotions passing over his tattooed profile as he appeared to work through something profound in his silence.

While inside her, the soft feelings stirred to life again and, watching his handsome profile, she'd realised that denying those feelings existed was a truly hopeless task.

How could anyone not be amazed by him?

Everything he did was so big and bold, even vulnerability and grief he worked through at full volume and with brutal honesty.

How many times had he said those formerly annoying words "I am an Elite" to her? As if she had needed reminding, but, watching him then, she had realised how true it really was. All those seemingly fantastical stories she'd heard about the Elite as she grew up, they all were true. He was a hero who had gone through things no one should have to live through, and here he was, facing his demons directly. It was humbling and she felt pretty inferior considering her sleepless night of obsessing over one word he'd said. He'd been impaled while helping defeat an entire Hive of deadly Wraith and a killer Skerti. What was some grumpiness to what he could do?

And then, just to top off how unpredictable he continued to be, he'd looked round at her and apologised for his behaviour yesterday. She'd felt annoyingly uncomfortable at his gratitude and had made some teasing joke about how strong his meds were, but he'd smiled that disarming way he had and started bantering again.

Back to how they usually were...except everything felt different. He kind of looked different too, and she wasn't just talking about the new hairstyle and the jagged handsome new scar that ran back from his hairline. He looked like a weight had gone, the grumpiness evaporated and he'd suggested they watch the Earth sports together.

The day really couldn't have gone further off what she'd predicted during her late night freak out session last night.

He'd even offered her a pillow, which had felt like a further peace offering. A damn comfortable one too.

She stretched her back and kicked out her feet to wake her body up bit as she watched the next javelin competitor step forward. Glancing down at her timekeeping display, she was surprised to see that it was almost the end of her shift with him, so she just had to stay awake for a little longer. She just needed to do something active until then and found her gaze drawn to the long shelves lining the side wall of his quarters. She wondered if Halling or Massa finished off the dusting she'd started yesterday.

"Did anyone finish dusting your shelves?" She asked Oneakka, putting plenty of humorous caution in her voice since it had been such a contentious subject during yesterday's argument.

Oneakka looked round from the latest javelin result with a faintly wary look. "No," he confirmed.

"Can I finish it or are you going to get all territorial about your dust again?" She asked, keeping to the bantering tone to help soothe the subject.

He pulled a sarcastic expression, which was definitely a preferred reaction. "I'm not territorial about _dust_."

"You certainly seemed pretty attached to it when I started getting rid of it," she pushed.

His gaze slid to the lines of shelves behind her. "It is _my_ dust in _my_ quarters," he added, his blue eyes returning to her.

"I'm pretty sure that could be a textbook definition of being 'territorial'," she pointed out, feeling a little more confident now that it didn't seem like the subject was going to kick off another argument. If anything, she was pretty sure he was being careful with what he said now too.

"You wouldn't want me going into your quarters and moving around all your personal items without your permission, would you?" He asked.

"Well, firstly," she replied, "that wouldn't work because I don't have any personal items in my quarters," she told him only to glance aside realising that that hadn't sounded all that good a thing to brag about. Outside of her newly purchased wardrobe of clothes over the last months, she didn't have anything else from her past in her quarters here. It wasn't like she didn't have some old precious things hidden away in secure locations both in and outside of the Alliance, but she hadn't actually set about retrieving any of them. She guessed maybe that had something to do with the impulse to run. No point bringing her things here if she wasn't going to be staying. Except, she'd been here months already now and the project wasn't going to be over any time soon...

She shook her head and quickly dismissed the distracting self-reflection and focused back on her points. "And secondly," she continued to him, "you are more than welcome to clear up the dust in my quarters. It would save me a job."

He pulled a smile at her joke, but it didn't really reach his eyes.

She looked away to the long shelves. "But, I guess I wouldn't want you just turning up anytime, deciding to move my stuff around," she quoted him from the argument. She focused on the lines of Ugun items set along the shelves in front of the long line of books and scrolls. "Especially precious old things," she realised out loud. She'd been very careful about dusting around the Ugun artefacts yesterday, but she'd not realised how invasive that might have been. How protective he would feel about the old remnants of his people.

She was instantly cross with herself for having missed what was blatantly obvious.

"Sorry, I didn't think about that," she admitted as she looked back round at him. If he was big enough to apologise, then she would too.

"Did you just admit you were wrong about something?" He asked as if it was something amazing.

She felt a sudden flush of embarrassment at his teasing. "What? Yes. No."

He pulled a confused yet still teasing expression. "Yes no?"

"I was apologising," she explained. "Don't ruin it."

"Apologising because you did something wrong." He looked like he was enjoying getting the upper hand. Damn it.

"Do you want the shelves dusted or not?" She demanded.

He chuckled at her.

"I can admit when I'm wrong," she defended herself. "It just happens so rarely that I'm not used to it," she added smugly.

He rolled his eyes. "People say I'm stubborn."

"You are a _whole_ new definition of 'stubborn'," she assured him.

"A definition you'd be included in," he countered with a smile.

"So you don't want the shelves dusted?" She pushed, annoyed at her warm flush at his teasing smile.

"Now that you've _asked,_ yes, please dust them," he replied.

She blinked at that. "Oh," she realised yet more obvious facts that she'd completely missed. Was she losing her edge? "Because we've all been moving your things around without asking first."

"It's the polite thing to do."

"I'm sorry," she held her hands up, "are _you_ arguing for being _polite_? You?"

"I respect politeness," he argued, clearly now the one on the back foot in the banter.

"You just don't follow it yourself," she countered as she got up from her chair and headed towards where she had spotted the dusting cloth folded up on the side. She suspected Halling had done that, as Massa didn't seem the type of man who neatly folded things.

"I can be polite," Oneakka argued from the bed as she headed for the point along the shelves where she estimated she had stopped yesterday.

"Please tell me when it happens so I can witness it," she responded as she located the very obvious line of dust. "I'll make sure to write it down for posterity."

"Fish hater," Oneakka muttered and she glared at him over her shoulder, but he was pretending not to notice as he focused on the javelin. "They've called up the list for the final. We can watch that tomorrow," he decided as he paused the recording. "But the female from the country of Cuba is going to win it."

"She already holds two major records, she's clearly a safe bet," Seeal replied as she worked the dusting cloth carefully around an Ugun cup.

Oneakka fell silent and she glanced over her shoulder to see that he was drinking down some more of the nutritional tonic Meiyo had sent him, and no nagging had been required. She turned back to her task.

After she covered a good metre of one shelf, she worked on the next one up, hearing Oneakka yawn. Good, it was about time he had his usual afternoon nap, so she kept quiet as she focused on her task, being obsessively careful with the Ugun items, moving slowly and carefully in case he was watching.

Only she heard the faint sounds of him digging through the box of Sheppard's game pieces, and she glanced round to see that he was back working on the game, his attention down in the box as he picked out several puzzle pieces. Pleased that he was relaxed and seemingly happy with her cleaning up now, she continued in silence.

And soon enough all the shelves were done and everything looked clean and tidy. "There, all done," she declared as she turned back to him.

"Thank you," he replied as he added a handful of puzzle pieces onto a new pile he had created on the table.

"How very polite of you," she commented as she folded the dusting cloth back up and set it back where she had found it, only abruptly the door into his quarters slid open announcing the end of her shift with him. She turned round towards the door, but it wasn't Massa for his shift, but Elite Nalla who entered instead.

"I'm really sorry," Oneakka abruptly blurted.

Seeal frowned round at him, but he was looking at Nalla, his eyes all wide.

"It is fine, Oneakka," the Pelydrian smiled as she continued into the room.

Seeal frowned back at Oneakka. "Have you been arguing with _everybody_?"

"No, there was no argument," Nalla was the one to answer though as she paused near the foot of Oneakka's bed, her violet gaze on Seeal now. "Just an honest mistake."

"It's my medication," Oneakka added to Nalla.

"Of course," Nalla replied, but it sounded like she was humouring him. "No one has been upset."

Upset? Clearly there was an interesting story here.

"To prove as much," Nalla continued, "I thought I would join you for late meal, if you do not mind?"

"Course not," Oneakka agreed looking noticeably relieved. Clearly whatever had happened had been significant, and obviously wasn't any of her business.

That was fine.

Seeal headed back towards the chair beside Oneakka to tidy up her things and clear the space for Nalla. Her borrowed pillow was still crushed up on the chair arm, so she plumped it back up as Nalla told Oneakka that she had ordered her own late meal to be delivered here along with his.

"Here's your pillow back," Seeal reached behind Oneakka's head to set the pillow on top of the rest, but he leaned forward to make space behind his back, so she pushed it in against his lower back for him, and then took the opportunity to rearrange a couple more of his pillows while she was there. He was talking with Nalla about the day's big Skerti hunt scouting missions, so he hadn't noticed the extra plumped and arranged pillows.

That sorted, she had nothing to do but leave. She picked up her electronic pad from the floor, idly noticing a displayed text link message from Massa telling her that Nalla would be taking the first couple of hours of his shift and then inviting her to have late meal with him and Halling in the usual canteen. Her stomach rumbled at the mere thought, clearly remembering that she'd missed a whole meal today.

She moved away from the chair, leaving it ready for Nalla, and the Pelydrian started towards it.

It felt a weird end to the very intimate and dramatic afternoon she'd shared with Oneakka and she couldn't help feeling a little resentful at the Elite female's interruption. Except the empathic Elite would sense that, so Seeal quickly focused her attention on Oneakka.

"Don't start watching that javelin final without me," she ordered him with the bantering note as she walked down the length of his bed towards the door.

"I might finish Sheppard's gift without you though," Oneakka replied like it was a counter challenge.

She turned to look at him as she backed towards the door, Nalla now sat at his side. "It's a thousand pieces, good luck with that," she mocked.

"By the end of this week, I'll walk all the way to the bathroom door by myself," he predicted with the return of his determined stubborn face.

"I have no doubt that you will," she smiled at him as she reached the door, hearing it slide open behind her shoulder.

"I will," Oneakka insisted.

"I'm agreeing with you," she emphasised from the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow. Try not to start any more fights with people, okay?" She finished as she backed out into the corridor.

He smiled at that. Actually it looked like he sniggered too before the door slid shut cutting off her view of him.

Stupid soft feelings.

She turned her back to the closed door and her stomach rumbled again so loudly that it actually echoed in the corridor. So, she strode away from his quarters, chin held high, heading for the canteen and a very large meal.

Today had started horribly, but had turned out to be the exact opposite. They really did seem to have a good friendship, having been able to share some painful things and talk through the big argument, and the afternoon had ended with teasing and banter again. She was really pleased and relieved. She just needed to keep a bit tighter control over the wayward feelings. But, it was all understandable. She had a big muscular hero as her friend, so it was understandable that she had some appreciation for the impressive handsome warrior. What woman wouldn't? It was just something she had to accept and not dwell on. Besides, soon enough he'd be all recovered and would head off back on missions to fight Wraith and Skerti.

Until then, she was safe in the knowledge that he had Pampata, and she could just enjoy his friendship.

And suddenly she was at the canteen, the long corridors having passed in no time. She frowned around at the strangely empty canteen. Only a few lone Recruits were dotted around, which suggested there was another big exam or something due. She wondered if it also explained the tense Recruit incident she'd witnessed earlier. Tempers got high when people were stressed. Her and Oneakka's argument was testament enough to that.

Across the large room Massa lifted his arm to attract her attention. She smiled bemusedly at that since it was hardly like he needed to show her where he and Halling were sitting in the basically empty room.

She waved back and then indicated the food selection and headed there first. She quickly spotted the bean stew that Oneakka had had earlier – it had smelt amazing, so she spooned herself a large helping and some of that yummy Athosian sweetgrain bread. A large cup of her usual tea added to the tray, she headed towards the waiting Elite.

It looked like Halling and Massa had been sat at the table for awhile as there were two stacks of used trays and cups, and there were small splatters across one section of the table surface indicating where Aki had been fed. However, the little babe was currently fast asleep against Massa's shoulder, which was unusual of late given the poor little boy's teething issues.

She slid into the available side of the table and frowned around at the quiet canteen. "Few Recruits around."

"Big assessments tomorrow," Massa confirmed her guess as he leaned forward across the table towards her. "So, I hear you have _actual magical powers_."

She frowned at that bizarre comment. "Magical powers?"

"You got Oneakka to agree to stick to his _entire_ medication plan," Massa explained.

"Oh, that," she shook her head as she picked up her spoon. "He saw sense."

"Sense?" Massa scoffed. "Trust me, sense and Oneakka are not close friends."

Seeal frowned at Massa's exaggerated insult as she scooped up a large helping of the stew. Wow, it tasted amazing. No wonder Oneakka had gobbled it down like it was his last meal. "He listens to reason," she defended Oneakka.

"On this one single occasion maybe," Massa argued. "But I don't think you understand what you've achieved today. He has _never_ agreed to this before."

"You just need to know how to talk to him," she explained. "The problem is you two males let him push you around."

"Trust me, we've tried _everything_," Massa replied. "Emmagan, Si and Nalla fail too. He's _never_ agreed to it before."

"As long as he does keep to his word," Halling added from his slightly slumped position at the end of the table between her and Massa. He looked a little off this evening to Seeal's eye, but maybe he was just tired from his own fight with Oneakka.

"He'll keep his word," Seeal stressed. "He's promised."

"One time he spat a medication tablet in my face," Massa reported dramatically.

"You were trying to force it into his mouth at the time," Halling added some relevant detail to the picture.

"Almost took my eye out," Massa complained.

"Well, sounds like you deserved it," Seeal countered and Massa pulled a face at her. She smiled back as she sipped at her tea.

"Of course," Massa said thoughtfully, but Seeal detected mischief in his tone. She glanced up from her glorious stew to see that he was leaning to his right towards Halling, drawing Halling's attention to him. "We've clearly been lacking the one thing that would have gotten him to agree: we've never looked like Seeal."

She rolled her eyes at Massa's insinuation and sparkling eyes. Though she did notice that Halling was obviously suppressing a smile as he glanced away. Oh great, Halling did know about her crush.

"No," she said firmly. "The reason is because you all give in too early and _let_ him win."

"I'm not sure forcing tablets into his mouth is considered letting him win," Halling put in.

"I used a logical argument," she continued, "set the terms of the challenge he could chose to meet, and the rest was just him coming around to the obvious."

"Yes, because none of us have _ever_ thought of using that approach before," Massa scoffed sarcastically. "It's never worked before."

"Well, clearly you were just doing it wrong," she concluded, rather weakly admittedly, but following this line of conversation was only creating distracting thoughts that maybe she did have a unique connection with Oneakka. The soft feelings didn't need any new ammunition today.

Massa muttered something that she didn't catch, but his tone implied it was suggestive.

"What was that?" She asked Massa.

"Nothing," Massa replied innocently as he sat back in his seat, one hand rhythmically patting Aki' little back.

"You said something," she pushed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Just a cough," he replied with a grin. He patted his chest beside Aki and let out an extremely fake cough.

She rolled her eyes at him and focused on little Aki as a good distraction from this subject. Normally in the evenings the boy was fussing and grizzling. "Did you drug Aki or something?"

"No, it's purely down to an equally magical ability I like to call 'Nalla's touch'," Massa explained what clearly only made sense to him.

To the left, Halling looked away with a strange wince across his face.

Seeal considered the two males and their strange moods this evening. "Have you two been sat in here all afternoon?" She guessed.

"Most of it," Massa confirmed. "Aki' slept almost all day thanks to Nalla and I've had no classes to teach today as all Recruit years are on revision prep. Plus we're still waiting to hear news back on the first scouting mission."

She nodded. "When we likely to hear anything?" She asked as she tucked back into her stew and listened to Massa's answer. Halling still looked a little distracted, but he added some salient details here and there. As they talked, the conversation turning to a story about a particular mission from their past, she suddenly realised something...

That maybe Oneakka wasn't her only Elite warrior friend.

0000

The night had set in on Athos by the time Teyla had arrived back home, the winter months having brought short days and very dark nights. She didn't mind though, and had in fact enjoyed the quiet trek up from the Portal and through Tjaru by herself. Every home and closing shop front glowed warm light across the dark streets and the air had been invigoratingly sharp as she drew it in.

It appeared not to have snowed again today, instead the colder temperatures having frozen the previous days' trodden down layers of snow into a smooth thick ice underfoot. The scent of the liberally scattered grip salt across the icy roads and paths filled her nose as she walked, bringing with it warm memories from her childhood as it crunched under her boots. The grip salt recipe was widely used across Athos, though some regions had their own little additions to the traditional mix, but Tjaru' grip formula was the same as Mother had used to make in the old camp. It was part of every Athosian's life to meticulously make and scatter grip salt across the paths outside their home through the cold winter months and she had clear happy memories of sitting by Mother's knee and helping mix the salts and fine grit with the ground petals and roots. Each step today released the salt grip's familiar scents of lavender petals and the peppery edge of twisted dark root, the combined smell mixing with the sharp frosty scent of the cold air. It brought back so many good childhood memories.

As she made her way up along Tjaru' paths, there was only the occasional trader or City Guards moving around the city so late, so she let her mind wander on the old camp memories. As the incline increased slightly under her, she lifted her gaze up from under the edge of her thick coat's hood and smiled at the many glowing warm coloured windows of the Governing Complex up ahead. Most of the staff inside would be turning in to sleep, but she suspected Father would still be awake and working. Some days it was difficult to get him to retire to his bed at all, so focused and dedicated in his work as he was, so she decided she would go via his office on her way to her quarters to make sure he did retire for the evening.

The guards nodded politely to her from around the entrance to the Complex' entrance lobby, but she couldn't recognise their faces inside the thick hoods. She nodded back to each though and headed inside to the engulfing warm pleasure of home. As the lobby guards drew open the doors through to the main corridor that would take her deeper into the Complex, she unbuttoned her hood and let it down, feeling the faint frosty stiffness to the fabric. It would warm and soften soon enough, for the warmth of the Complex was wonderful. She unbuttoned the front of her thick coat, but decided to keep it on until she was warmed through.

The lighting was subdued due to the late hour and she could hardly hear any signs that the Complex staff were at work. Only a skeleton staff would be on duty overnight, as there was always some work to be done, though their shift was usually quiet and calm. Fishing out her personal pad from a protected inner pocket of her coat, Teyla considered the display as it synced in with the Complex's computer system. She had a few messages, one from Zabetha wishing her a good night and letting her know that she and Rhakshar would be leaving early tomorrow morning for a trip to see his family. Knowing the couple would be leaving early in the morning, Teyla made a note on her pad to wake her up in time to see her sister before she left. The trip to see Rhakshar's family would only last a few days, but Teyla would miss Zabetha. After all, it would not be too long until Teyla would be leaving on her next mission. Today had been a stark reminder of that fact.

She had spent most of the day locked in long conversations and link conferences with the rest of the Military Council, and it had been quite tiring for her. Yet, it had been a highly successful day. The scouting parties had all been sent out successfully to track down any clues of the Skerti and, as of the last two hours, the party tasked with investigating the Iratus insect's planet, the homeworld of the Wraith and presumably also the Skerti, had arrived as planned and begun their intense study of the planet. The planet was already within Alliance territory, but being on the edge of a quiet area of the outer territory, only sentry satellites and a nearby Fleet patrol had kept watch over it. However, as of today, a large investigative force of scientists and military assessors would begin combing the planet for signs of the Skerti, both recent or any evidence of their original occupancy.

The Military Council were focused and energised on the mission to hunt down the Skerti, but it was also clear that answers would not be immediately available. The rest of the scouting parties would take days still to reach their target locations, if not longer for some, and even once at their target, there was no guarantee of any immediate results. Unless the Skerti happened to immediately appear, which felt unlikely considering how secretive they had been so far, then it would still take further study and investigation by the scouting parties to find anything potentially helpful.

It was going to be a waiting game, which was something that all warriors understood, however the High Council were not as patient. They had repeatedly contacted the Military Council throughout the day for updates and with lists of questions demanding further information on the Skerti to alleviate their anxiety on the matter. It did not matter that nothing new had been found, but the High Council appeared ready to demand instant results every day until something was, hopefully, found. Patience was usually one of her skills, but it had been taxed considerably today during the discussions with the High Councillors and their staff. Still, ultimately the day had been successful and there had been good news that the Sythus should soon be ready for deployment.

At which point she would be back onboard and would join the search for, and eventual engagement with, the Skerti.

Which would take her away from John.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen him, for she had been in the Facility when Atlantis had delivered their reports and conferred with Halling daily on various points regarding Earth's 'mythical' vampires. John had even sent her a few messages via text link and had kindly sent through some entertainment for Oneakka while he was bedbound. During the more official links discussions with Atlantis via the Portal, John had been very careful with his body language and had been very polite and careful not to grin happily at her for his superiors to see. Still, even seeing him that way, almost every day, had helped while not physically being in each other's presence, but once she was back on assignment, it would be unlikely that she could speak to him so regularly. And if the Sythus was sent out on battle engagement, no links transmissions outside high level contact with the Fleet or the Facility would be allowed. Which meant that, soon enough, she would have to go without seeing him in person or over link for quite some time.

It wasn't as if that was anything new for them. They had spent more time apart than they had together through the time they had known each other, but since they had become lovers again and been able to spend regular shared time living together, it had cemented him as a vital constant in her life. A constant that she would have to be without when she was on mission.

The thought of it hung heavy in her heart making even the warm incense lingering through the Complex' hallways less enjoyable. She had wondered if it could be argued that Atlantis should have a representative on the Sythus during the upcoming mission, but since there was no exact target or mission yet assigned to the Sythus, then the argument was rather weak. Plus, the thought of John having to face a Skerti... Watching the re-enactment of Halling's battle against the Skerti Queen had been terrifying to watch, and the possibility of John being in Halling's position in the future...it worried at her. No, she would prefer to have him safe in Atlantis, or as safe as he could manage considering his own warrior life.

"Honoured Elite," a voice cut through her rather depressed thoughts and she stopped and looked round to see Hakon walking towards her with a warm smile across his face.

"Good evening, Hakon," she smiled back at him. "You are up late," she added, glancing down to the ever-present large computer pad supported against his inner forearm.

"I am soon to retire to bed," he replied, but she was not entirely sure she believed him. As Father's assistant, he worked just as hard as Father. "Leader Torren is in his study still, if you are looking for him."

Teyla smiled at his subtle message and faint smile. It appeared that Father was denying himself sleep as usual then. "I shall visit him now," she smiled. Her coat was growing overly warm now, but she held off from removing yet. Doing so required her to remove the single sword and its harness from her back which was something of a fuss. So, she drew open the two sides of her coat to allow out the growing warmth inside the thick winter coat.

"I am certain he will be pleased to see you," Hakon replied as he bowed. "Honoured Elite."

"_Sleep_ well, Hakon," she replied with a touch of firmness in her voice.

"Yes, Honoured Elite," he replied as he bobbed his head again, turned and headed down the corridor away from her. The administration offices were down that way, so clearly he was not directly retiring yet.

The flush of heat inside her coat was most uncomfortable now, so she took two hurried turns round some corners until she reached the smaller less public corridors that would lead towards Father's office, and she paused in a nice empty stretch of hallway. She reached quickly round to her back to release the sword harness and roughly began drawing if off her back. Honestly, she felt so hot now that she felt the faintest wave of dizziness. Though, that was possibly also due to that unsavoury Satedan nettle grass stew she had foolishly tried for late meal at the Military Council offices. It clearly had not agreed with her stomach.

The harness and sword off her and quickly dropped to the floor, she wrestled off her winter coat in a rush and let out a loud breath of relief as the relatively cooler air of the corridor surrounded her. She was still dressed in several layers but the coat had been far too much. Perhaps it had been her thinking about John too much, which always had the ability to make her feel warm, on top of the long walk here and the heat of the Facility in comparison to the cold outside. Whatever the reason, she felt much better now.

Taking another few seconds to enjoy the cooler air, she collected up her sword in its harness and slung it over her right shoulder and draped her thick coat over her left arm. Calm and cool once more, she continued on towards Father's office.

As she turned the last corner, she spied the door to his office ahead was open a fraction, the candlelight inside dancing into the darker corridor. Despite the electric lighting, Father still liked to burn candles in his study and quarters. As she reached the door, she knocked lightly before pushing the door open further.

"Come," Father called from across the room and, as she entered, she saw that he was digging through a large box on the floor to the far left of the room. "Hakon, have you seen the trade agreement I signed last week for the-" he looked up and over his shoulder and his frown became a large smile. "Teyla," he straightened up from the box, dropping an armful of scrolls back into it before heading towards her.

"I have not seen the trade agreement in question," she joked as she reached him, their hands falling on each other's shoulders. She pressed her forehead to his. "The hour is late, why are you looking for trade agreements?"

"The Representative is raising an 'error'," Father replied with an exaggerated sigh. "Come, there is fresh tea."

"It is also late for tea, Father," she added, but she headed for one of the comfortable chairs in the corner and the small table and covered teapot.

"It is lavender petal tea," Father added as he returned to the box of scrolls.

"That is very apt," Teyla smiled as she dropped into the soft chair's seat with a burst of relief, dropping the sword and coat to the floor beside her. "I have just been enjoying the scent of grip salt on the way up here," she told him as she poured out a cup of the tea and then topped up what appeared to be his half-finished cup across from her.

"It is icy out there," Father muttered as he dug both his arms into the big box of scrolls. She frowned at the box, surprised at the arrangement; Father and Hakon were normally far more organised. "You must make sure you wear a warm enough coat," Father added from the depths of the box. "Ahh, here it is," he smiled as he straightened up.

Teyla decided not to point out that him telling her to dress warmly once she had come in from the cold was obviously unnecessary, but she rather enjoyed when he said such caring things to her. It made no difference to him that she was an Elite warrior and that she had fought through freezing weather or had walked across a ship's hull in the cold vacuum of space with only the layer of a spacesuit to protect her.

She instead lifted her teacup to her nose and drew in the scent of warm lavender petal tea. "The scent reminds me of mixing the recipe with Mother," she smiled.

She heard Father chuckle and she looked round to where he was now behind his desk and was setting the trade agreement scroll amongst a further large pile of work. "It was one of the first things both you and Zabetha learnt to do. Your Mother loved to prepare it. She used to make far too much of it, the bins of extra stores scenting out our tent for months."

Teyla frowned at that. "I did not realise that."

"It is probably why you remember the smell so well," Father smiled as he looked across his desk at her, only to frown slightly. "Are you alright? You look a little pale."

She was thrown by the question and his sudden worried frown. "Yes," she confirmed. "Though," she confessed, "I tried some Satedan nettle grass stew for late meal and it really did not agree with my stomach."

Father nodded, his frown disappearing. "I rarely eat anything Satedan. They flavour their food like their demands in trade and military agreements: overpowering."

Teyla laughed at the comparison.

"The lavender petal tea should help soothe your stomach," he continued. "As will do some good news, and explanation for the state of my office," he gestured to his heavily laden desk and the box of scrolls.

"Oh?" she asked, settling back against the comfortable thick back of her chair.

"I have agreed a day to visit Atlantis," he grinned.

"Truly?" Teyla grinned back, not just because she knew that visiting the Ancestral City was a lifelong dream of his, but that the visit would afford her the chance to see John again in person. "When?"

"Five days time," Father replied. "You can book your day free?"

"I will do it now," she set down her tea and reached to her coat to pull out her pad.

"Zabetha will be back from visiting Rhakshar's family in time and Hakon and I have brought forward the visiting day's planned work, hence the extra work here."

"Do you need any assistance with Zabetha away?" Teyla asked as she looked up from her pad.

"Elkaska is helping, which remains a blessing, and I am planning to leave him in charge with Hakon when we visit Atlantis."

Teyla smiled at the bemused tone to Father's voice. It remained a surprise to all the family that her uncle remained on Athos still, his itching trader's feet not yet having taken him on his usual constant travels off-world. She knew it was also something of a surprise to Father that Elkaska had been so helpful in the trading aspect of the governing work, though perhaps much of the reason was Uncle's eagerness to be the primary trader working with Atlantis.

"I am surprised Elkaska has agreed not to visit Atlantis with us," she noted as she tapped in a quick text link to Nalla, asking her if she would cover the Military Council assignment in five days' time.

"I have not told him yet," Father confessed as he moved scrolls around and scribbled something down with an Earth writing implement. "I am certain Elkaska will be able to arrange his own personal visit to Atlantis another time. He seems to have developed a good working relationship with Mr Woolsey."

"Is that your argument to convince him to stay behind on the day?" Teyla smiled. The lavender tea appeared to already be calming the Satedan stew reaction, which was a relief.

Father smiled as he wrote something else down, his attention drifting to his work. "I suspect Elkaska's ultimate aim is to visit Earth itself."

Teyla chuckled at the theory, but then she found herself imagining a scenario in which she could also accompany him on an official visit to John's world. John had shown her many images of his planet, and spoke of it with such love and affection. He had told her of the many differing climates where he had been on military assignment, and then wonderful places where he had taken his time off rotation. One particular description had lingered in her mind, of steep snowy peaks of mountains and a small wooden cabin with a roaring fireplace inside. He had whispered the fantasy of them there together, wrapped up in a big blanket sat in front of the fire while the snow fell outside.

She let out a sigh at such a wonderful picture. She imagined there would be a lovely big bed in the cabin too, with thick covers so that they could lie naked together but keep warm from the cold outside. And there were no Wraith on his galaxy, no chance of any. She sighed again at such a wonderful thought.

She realised that her attention had wandered for some time into her pictured fantasy with John. She looked round to Father's desk to see that he was working quietly, his attention flowing between a long scroll, a large electronic pad, and his handwritten notes.

Memories of being younger returned again, but now older ones from after Mother's death and when Father had become the elected leader of the Athosian worlds. The family had moved here to the Complex, and so often had she and Zabetha sat and worked on their school assignments in this exact office while Father had worked. Of course a great deal had changed since then, but just sitting quietly with Father as he worked remained a happy activity for her. And would also be one that she would miss when she next left on the Sythus.

It felt like each time she left on mission that there was more that she was leaving behind and feared she would never see again.

Still, it would be some days yet until the Sythus would be ready and the scouting parties had found a target for them, so, until then, she had time to enjoy her family and at least one opportunity to visit John again in person.

She looked past Father's desk towards the glass door at the far end of the room which looked out on the small personal courtyard outside his office and she watched as large flakes of snow began to fall.

Cupping her warm cup of lavender petal tea against her chest, she watched the snow fall in happy silence, her mind wandering back into the beautiful warm fantasies of time alone with John in that imagined cabin.

Only her stomach stirred a little again, remaining unhappy at her unfortunate choice of Satedan stew, so she sipped at her tea.

She would have to remember to stay well away from Satedan food for awhile.

0000  
TBC


End file.
